Relief for Bengal Government: Supreme Court Quashes CBI Probe Order on Supernumerary Posts in SSC Scam Case

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of India cancelled around 26,000 appointments made through the School Service Commission (SSC), sending shockwaves across the state. During that hearing, the apex court also announced that the case concerning the creation of supernumerary posts (extra vacancies) by the West Bengal government would be heard on Tuesday — and that hearing took place today.

In a major relief to the state, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar declared that there was no illegality involved in the creation of these posts and thus dismissed the Calcutta High Court’s order for a separate CBI investigation.

Earlier, in the wake of the 2016 teacher recruitment scam through the SSC, the state government created around 6,000 additional posts to accommodate candidates from the waiting list who were protesting for their rightful employment. This move, however, came under the scanner of the Calcutta High Court, which alleged misuse of power and ordered a separate CBI investigation into the matter.

The High Court had even mentioned that if necessary, the CBI could take members of the state Cabinet into custody for interrogation. Following this directive, the state challenged the order in the Supreme Court.

During today’s hearing, the Supreme Court bench observed that the state’s decision to create supernumerary posts was taken with proper Cabinet approval and had the consent of the Governor as well. Therefore, there was no need for a separate investigation as no procedural lapse was found.

Petitioners in the case had argued that these posts were created to cover up large-scale corruption and to protect unqualified candidates who had illegally secured jobs. However, the state has maintained throughout that no appointments were made through these supernumerary posts and, in fact, the decision could be withdrawn if required.

Today’s Supreme Court verdict gives a breather to the state government, but the larger issue of cancellation of 26,000 SSC jobs remains under judicial scrutiny, with further hearings scheduled.