Political slugfest surfaces in Bengal after SC puts interim stay on cancellation of 25,753 school jobs
Kolkata: After the Supreme Court on Tuesday put an interim stay on the Calcutta High Court’s order cancelling 25,753 appointments in teaching and non-teaching posts made by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016, a political slugfest has erupted in the state.
Stating that expeditious disposal of the matter will be in the interest of justice, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI), D.Y. Chandrachud, and comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue with its investigation into the alleged scam, but restricted the agency from taking any coercive action against the candidates or officials.
“I am really happy and mentally relaxed with the top court’s order. Congratulations to the entire teaching fraternity and my humble regards to the Hon’ble 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 has defused the BJP’s ‘explosives’ hurled last week to malign Bengal’s image and destabilise the state government.
“Truth has triumphed! We will continue to defy all odds and stand shoulder to shoulder with the people until our last breath,” he said in a statement posted on X.
However, state BJP spokesman and Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya claimed that the Trinamool has nothing to cheer over the interim stay.
“Remember, the apex court has not stayed the CBI probe in the matter of super-numerary posts. The Chief Justice of India has also observed that the entire recruitment scam was a systemic fraud,” Bhattacharya said.
According to senior advocate in the Calcutta High Court and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, those who will continue to remain in the job following the interim stay will have to give an undertaking that in case their recruitments are found to made in an irregular manner in the future, they will have to return their salaries.
“The apex court has also ordered the continuation of the CBI probe,” he pointed out.