Kolkata, April 3 (NationPress) The saga of the multi-crore school job scandal in West Bengal began in July 2021 when the former Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench, led by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who is now a member of BJP Sabha, commenced hearings on the initial case.

On November 22 of the same year, the Calcutta High Court mandated a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter, focusing initially on the recruitment of Group-D non-teaching staff at state-run schools.

Then, in December 2021, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, consisting of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha and Justice Rabindranath Samanta, issued an interim stay on the CBI probe, instead ordering a judicial inquiry led by a committee under Justice Ranjit Kumar Bag (retired).

In February 2022, Justice Gangopadhyay again called for a CBI investigation into the recruitment of Group-C category non-teaching staff.

However, the division bench once more stayed the CBI's investigation and directed the matter to be included in the ongoing inquiry led by Justice Bag.

Subsequently, Justice Gangopadhyay issued further orders for a CBI investigation concerning the recruitment of secondary and higher secondary teaching staff.

Ultimately, in April 2022, the CBI commenced its investigation into the hiring processes for both teaching and non-teaching staff.

At the same time, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched a parallel investigation focusing on potential money laundering.

On May 18, 2022, the Bag Committee presented its findings to the Calcutta High Court, leading a division bench to instruct the CBI to continue investigating the irregularities surrounding the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff.

On July 22, 2022, the ED apprehended Partha Chatterjee, the former West Bengal Education Minister and Secretary General of the Trinamool Congress, on allegations of his participation in the school job case.

In September 2022, the CBI submitted its initial report to the court, revealing irregularities in the recruitment conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

Meanwhile, the investigations by both central agencies continued, leading to more arrests, and the case eventually escalated to the Supreme Court.

On November 9, 2023, a division bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of Justice Aniruddha Basu and Justice Bela M Trivedi, instructed the Calcutta High Court to form a special bench to address the issue.

In response, a special division bench of the Calcutta High Court, with Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi, began hearing the case on January 15, 2024.

A total of 17 hearings were conducted by this special bench from January to March.

On April 22, 2024, the special bench ordered the annulment of all 25,753 appointments made by the WBSSC, which encompassed secondary and higher secondary teachers, along with Group-C and Group-D non-teaching staff. This was due to the inability to distinguish between legitimate candidates and those who secured jobs through bribery.

The state government contested this ruling in the apex court. Ultimately, on April 3, the Supreme Court's division bench, led by the Chief Justice of India, upheld the Calcutta High Court's special bench order.