NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict on a petition filed by the West Bengal govt challenging the April 22, 2024, order of the Calcutta high court, which had quashed the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff for state-run and state-aided schools.
As CBI explained the systematic manner in which OMR (answer) sheets were tampered with, including appointment of persons who had submitted blank OMR sheets, accompanied by appointment of those securing lower ranks at the cost of meritorious candidates, the only question a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar focused on was whether the irregularities were all pervasive or whether the tainted can be segregated.
For petitioners supporting the Calcutta HC decision, senior advocate Maninder Singh said the SC has repeatedly ruled that when the extent of fraud and irregularities in a selection process is unfathomable, the entire recruitment process should be annulled, and fresh selection should take place irrespective of the number of years the selected candidates have put in as teachers.
Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, for WB School Selection Commission (WBSSC), said earlier the Commission was not aware of the extent of the irregularities but the CBI investigations has limited it to 5,485 candidates, which is about 25% of the total candidates recruited. “Those tainted can be segregated and the recruitment of the rest should be validated by the SC,” he said.
He was supported by senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi who appeared for the state govt. Dwivedi said the state admits that there were certain irregularities in recruitment, but it was not widespread as recorded by Calcutta HC. Around a dozen senior advocates, including A M Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi, P S Patwalia, C S Vaidyanathan, Indira Jaising and Dushyant Dave, who argued for saving the jobs of untainted teachers.
Dave attempted to infuse political controversy into the matter by stating that the CBI inquiry was ordered by an HC judge, who after resigning as a judge joined a political party and got elected to Lok Sabha in that party’s ticket.