Will not go into political issues in WB school jobs scam: Supreme Court reserves verdict

The appeals filed by the West Bengal government challenging the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into school jobs for cash scam will be decided dispassionately and without going into any political issues, the Supreme Court said on Monday [State of West Bengal v. Baishakhi Bhattacharyya Chatterjee & Ors.]..The observation was made by a Bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar while hearing appeals challenging the Calcutta High Court order cancelling 24,000 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for some of the appellants, challenged the CBI enquiry ordered into the alleged illegal appointments. He contended that the enquiry itself was tainted as the order was first passed by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay - the High Court judge who resigned and later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The controversial judge had also found himself in hot water after he gave interviews to the media while he was hearing the case. "Last but most important is this my lord. It is a little unpleasant but kindly permit me to submit... Justice Gangopadhyay ordered CBI enquiry without any basis, without any prayer. My lordships have seen on record Justice Gangopadhyay's interview. Learned judge gave an interview while hearing the matter. Then he joined politics. The entire enquiry is tainted," Dave argued. ."We have heard you on this point. We are going by the evidence. Mr. Dave, that's all," the Bench said. .But Dave said that the Bench was not giving due consideration to this argument of his because it was unpalatable to the judiciary."I don't think your lordships is hearing this because it is unpalatable to the judiciary," he stated..This, the bench said, was an unacceptable remark."This is an unacceptable remark. The proceedings have gone on absolutely dispassionately. We are not going into any political issue and we will not allow it. Mr. Dave, you are also an experienced lawyer. You know that the law in India is settled in Pooran Mal's case that even evidence collected illegally is admissible as evidence. That's all, Mr. Dave", CJI Khanna said. .We are not going into any political issue and we will not allow it..The infamous school jobs for cash scam pertains to various illegal recruitments allegedly made in primary and secondary schools across West Bengal during the 2016 recruitment process of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).Over 23 lakh candidates appeared in the examinations for the 24,000 job vacancies. However, allegations cropped up that most candidates were given jobs after wrongly evaluating the OMR Sheets.In April 2024, the Calcutta High Court cancelled the appointment of 24,000 employees (both teaching and non-teaching) to State-aided schools. The High Court noted that there was no clarity on which of the 23 lakh answer sheets were evaluated and therefore, ordered re-evaluation of all answer sheets. While holding the recruitment invalid, the High Court ordered the 24,000 candidates to return the salaries they received.The High Court also ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to continue with the investigation into the recruitment scam.A total of 126 appeals were filed against the High Court's judgment, including one by the West Bengal government. .The Supreme Court subsequently ordered an interim stay on the judgment and restrained the CBI from taking any "precipitative action" against the officials concerned.After hearing all parties over the course of several days, the top court today reserved its verdict on the appeals. .Since the alleged scam came to light, several persons including the former education minister Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) party MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha have faced criminal proeedings and jail time for their alleged involvement in the scam along with suspended TMC leaders like Santanu Kundu and Kuntal Ghosh.