The Supreme Court recently stayed the Calcutta High Court order invalidating their appointment made by the state’s School Service Commission (SSC) in the state-run and state-aided schools.
However, the apex court has permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue with the investigation. The court said that the investigation agency can even probe the members of the state cabinet if needed.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra granted relief on the pleas, including the one filed by the state government. The bench asked the CBI not to take any precipitative action like any arrest of any suspect during its ongoing investigation.
The Supreme Court also clarified that the teachers and non-teaching staff of the state, whose appointments were cancelled by the high court, will have to refund the salaries and other emoluments if found that the recruitment was illegal.
The court remarked that they are of the view that an expeditious disposal of the matter will be in the interest of justice and accordingly directed that the proceedings be scheduled for hearing and final disposal on July 16, 2024.
In its order, the bench said that in the meantime, they are inclined to continue the ad-interim protection granted by this court in the order dated November 9, 2023, subject to the express stipulation that any person found to have been appointed illegally and has continued as a consequence of the present order shall undertake to refund the entire amount of the salary which may be paid from the date of this order and the final judgement of this court.
The bench added that the issue which would merit closer analysis is whether the appointment which suffers from taint can be segregated with the genuine ones, adding that it would be imprecise to set aside the entirety of the process.
The top court also termed the alleged recruitment scam in West Bengal as systemic fraud and said the state authorities were duty-bound to maintain the digitised records pertaining to the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff.