The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a CBI probe against West Bengal government officials in a teachers' recruitment case, providing relief to the Mamata Banerjee government.
The government moved the top court after the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointments of 24,000 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and aided schools, calling the recruitment process illegal.
"We will stay the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government," a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra said.
On April 26, the High Court cancelled the entire 2016 recruitment panel for school teachers constituted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSCC). The bench directed the CBI to undertake further investigation into the matter with respect to the appointment process, and submit a report in three months.
Two days after the High Court order, the Trinamool Congress government approached the Supreme Court, challenging the verdict.
The Mamata government alleged that the High Court, based on oral submissions and in the absence of any affidavit on record, had arbitrarily cancelled the appointments as well as the entire selection process without giving sufficient time to the government to make any necessary arrangements.
The High Court had asked the WBSSC to initiate a fresh appointment process within a fortnight of the declaration of the Lok Sabha election results. The government challenged this as well in the top court.
The High Court had also ordered the re-evaluation of as many as 23 lakh OMR sheets (test paper) of the recruitment entrance exam that had been conducted.
The Supreme Court will hear the matter on May 6.
The CBI has arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and some functionaries who held positions in WBSSC when the alleged scam took place.
