Political tussle surfaces in Bengal after SC puts temporary hold on cancellation of 25,753 school jobs

Kolkata: After the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the Calcutta High Court’s order quashing 25,753 appointments to teaching and non-teaching posts made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016, a political tussle erupted in the state.

Stating that an early disposal of the case would be in the interests of justice, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, allowed The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue its investigation into the alleged scam, but stopped the agency from taking enforcement action against the candidates or officials.

“I am really happy and mentally relaxed with the order of the top court. Congratulations to the entire teaching fraternity and my humble regards to the honorable Supreme Court,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement on Tuesday evening.

According to Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, the apex court order defused the “explosives” launched by the BJP last week to damage Bengal’s image and destabilize the state government.

“The truth has triumphed!” We will continue to defy all odds and stand with the people until our last breath,” he said in a statement published on X.

However, BJP spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya claimed that the Trinamool had nothing to be happy about over the temporary reprieve.

“Remember, the apex court has not stayed the CBI investigation into the supernumerary posts case. The Chief Justice of India also observed that the entire recruitment scam was a systemic fraud,” Bhattacharya said.

According to senior advocate of the Calcutta High Court and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, those who continue to hold their posts after the interim suspension will have to give an undertaking that in case their recruitments fail are found to be carried out irregularly in the future, they will have to return their salary.

“The apex court has also ordered the CBI investigation to continue,” he pointed out.