Bengal teacher recruitment scam: Supreme Court stays Calcutta HC order cancelling 25,000 school jobs; slams West Bengal govt

A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra gave relief to thousands of teachers whose jobs were in jeopardy following the order given by the High Court on April 22.

However, the apex court bench added that if the allegations against nearly 8,000 teachers investigated by CBI is proved, the order of the high court will apply to the affected staff and they will have to refund their salaries along with an annualised interest of 12 percent, reported India Today.

Calling the recruitment procedure a "systemic fraud", the Supreme Court said it would be unwise to set aside the appointments in their entirety, reported India Today.

"The public job is so scarce.... Nothing remains if the faith of the public goes. This is systemic fraud. Public jobs are extremely scarce today and are looked at for social mobility. What remains in the system if their appointments are also maligned? People will lose faith, how do you countenance this?" the CJI asked the lawyers representing the state government, reported the Hindustan Times.

The apex court, however, allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue its probe into the alleged scam.

The court issued the order while hearing petitions challenging the Calcutta High Court's order cancelling the jobs of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching employees in West Bengal’s government-aided and government-owned school.

The West Bengal government had moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Calcutta High Court’s order, stating it cancelled the appointments "arbitrarily".

In its direction, the court said there was a need to segregate valid and invalid recruitment and asked the West Bengal government to decide the modalities.

The bench called for an expedited hearing in the case and listed the matter for hearing on July 16, reported India Today.

After the Supreme Court ruling, Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said truth had finally won.

"The honourable Supreme Court has defused the BJP's 'explosive' hurled last week to malign Bengal's image and destabilise the government. We will continue to defy all odds and stand shoulder to shoulder with the people until our last breath," he tweeted.