NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside a portion of the Calcutta high court‘s directive ordering a CBI probe into the West Bengal cabinet‘s decision to create supernumerary posts for school staff. However, it upheld the continuation of the CBI investigation into other aspects of the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in the state’s government-aided schools.
The row stems from a 2016 recruitment drive conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), which was struck down by the Calcutta high court for widespread irregularities. The Supreme Court recently upheld that verdict, resulting in the cancellation of over 25,000 appointments.
In response, chief minister Mamata Banerjee met with several of the affected teachers and strongly criticised the move, calling it a “conspiracy” to destroy West Bengal’s education system.
“There is a conspiracy going on to destroy the education system. Teachers of classes 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th are the gateways to higher education… Many (teachers) are gold medalists, they have achieved great results in their lives, and you are calling them thieves. You are calling them incompetent, who gave you this right? Who is playing this game,” West Bengal CM said during her address.
She also expressed her unwavering support for the sacked teachers, saying, “The decision that has come cannot be taken in a positive way. For what I am saying, I may be put in jail but I don’t care about that. The Supreme Court has not yet given the list of those who are eligible and have lost their jobs.”
CM Mamata assured the affected teachers of her continued support, declaring she would fight for them “as long as she is alive,” even if it meant facing jail time. While some teachers welcomed her reassurance, others voiced disappointment over the lack of a clear roadmap for reinstatement.