The Supreme Court on Monday postponed the Calcutta High Court verdict, which instructed the CBI to look into West Bengal government officials’ possible involvement in a teacher recruitment fraud. This decision greatly relieved the Mamata Banerjee-led government.
The state government was presenting a plea to the highest court challenging an earlier ruling that declared the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching personnel in state-run and state-aided schools by the School Service Commission (SSC) to be void.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra formed a bench and declared, “We will stay in the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government.”

In an appeal to the highest court, the state government contested the order, claiming that the appointments were “arbitrarily” canceled by the court.

“The high court failed to appreciate the ramification of canceling the entire selection process, leading to straightaway termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service with immediate effect, without giving sufficient time to the petitioner state to deal with such an exigency, rendering the education system at a standstill,” according to the petition filed by the Bengal government.

The CBI will look into the individuals in the state administration who approved the formation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments, according to the Calcutta High Court’s ruling.

The high court went on to say that the CBI would question anyone implicated in custody if necessary.