School job case: SC sets aside CBI probe into creation of supernumerary posts by Bengal cabinet

The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a direction by the Calcutta High Court that had ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the creation of supernumerary posts in West Bengal’s state-run schools.

These teaching and non-teaching posts, controversial since their inception, have long been suspected of being used to accommodate ineligible candidates recruited through unlawful means.

With the apex court’s latest ruling, the CBI will no longer be permitted to examine the decision-making process behind the creation of the supernumerary positions.

CBI Can Proceed with Other Aspects of the Case

However, the Supreme Court clarified that its ruling does not prevent the CBI from continuing its investigation into other elements of the school jobs scam, in line with the Calcutta High Court’s broader directions.

The BJP had previously speculated that the investigation could implicate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as the state Cabinet — under her leadership — had approved the creation of the additional posts.

Political Reactions Intensify

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had commented earlier that Mamata Banerjee could become the second chief minister in India, after Haryana’s Om Prakash Chautala, to face imprisonment over an education-related scam.

The Calcutta High Court, in its April 2023 order, had cancelled 25,753 teaching and non-teaching appointments in state-run schools and directed the appointees selected through expired panels to return their entire salaries, with 12 per cent annual interest.

Selection Process 'Tainted Beyond Repair': SC

The Calcutta HC had also empowered the CBI to question those behind the creation of seats that exceeded the available vacancies, noting that the state Cabinet’s actions warranted scrutiny.

Challenging that order, the West Bengal government had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. In May 2024, the then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud-led Bench had allowed the CBI to investigate the scam but barred it from taking coercive measures against state officials.

More recently, the top court upheld the HC’s cancellation of the 25,753 appointments made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016. The SC observed that the recruitment process was deeply compromised.

“In our opinion, this is a case wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution. Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded,” said a bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.