(Image source from: ANI)
The Supreme Court has announced that no CBI investigation will take place regarding the West Bengal government's establishment of additional positions to accommodate approximately 25,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel who were dismissed by the state's School Service Commission after the court annulled the selection process. A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna overturned a Calcutta High Court ruling, highlighting that courts are prohibited from probing executive decisions and deemed the previous order as erroneous. This ruling came in response to a petition from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s administration contesting the High Court's decision. Recently, the Supreme Court determined that the selection procedures of the West Bengal School Service Commission were "tainted by manipulation and fraud," undermining their legitimacy.
The panel, which included Chief Justice Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, stated that the appointments were the result of dishonest actions and remarked, "Widespread manipulations and fraud, alongside efforts to conceal them, have irreparably damaged the selection process." The Bengal government sought intervention from the Supreme Court to challenge the prior High Court ruling and advocated for distinguishing between 'tainted' and 'untainted' candidates.
However, the court noted that such a verification process is challenging due to "the extent of obfuscation at every level" and concluded that "the entire selection mechanism was deliberately compromised." An outraged Ms. Banerjee, who also needs to prepare her Trinamool Congress party for what promises to be a contentious and demanding campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections, reacted strongly to the Supreme Court's unfavorable ruling, pledging to defend the 'deserving' teachers. She further referenced alleged discrepancies in competitive examinations in other states, including the BJP-governed Madhya Pradesh where the 'Vyapam jobs scam' implicated senior officials, as well as issues such as exam paper leaks in the highly debated NEET examination for medical courses.
Ms. Banerjee accused the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), her key opponents in West Bengal, of conspiring to undermine the state's education system. The controversy primarily revolves around the extra posts that were created by the state. In 2016, over 2.3 million candidates participated in the state-level examination; there were 24,640 available positions, yet 25,753 appointment letters were distributed, leading to allegations of unlawful hiring. This situation has caused significant trouble for the Trinamool government, resulting in the imprisonment of several senior leaders, including Partha Chatterjee, the former Education Minister and a close associate of Ms. Banerjee.
Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya characterized the Supreme Court's ruling as a "crushing blow" for Ms. Banerjee, asserting that "the Chief Minister, under whose administration this extensive fraud compromised the futures of countless youth, must also be held responsible and brought to justice." Following the verdict, Ms. Banerjee indicated that she would not take the ruling personally and that her government would refine and attempt the selection process again.
