The CBI has started consulting legal experts to decide its course of action following the Calcutta High Court order on Monday directing the agency to probe the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointees.
Senior officers in the CBI team (SIT) that is probing the irregularities in appointments in state-aided schools met on Tuesday.
In its order, the Calcutta High Court division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi said the central agency would undertake further probe into the role of officials in the state government who approved the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointees. If necessary, the CBI may take these persons into custody for interrogation.
“It is shocking that, at the level of the cabinet of the State Government, the decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for State Funded Schools, knowing fully well that such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after the expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum,” the order says.
Senior officers in the central investigating agency said that since the approval for creating supernumerary posts came from the state cabinet, it will be imperative to access the cabinet papers.
“The papers will reveal when the cabinet decision was taken, who all were present, and on what basis the state government decided to create supernumerary posts,” said a senior officer.
Since accessing cabinet papers about a particular decision is fraught with legal complications, it is necessary to get legal clearances from the experts, a CBI officer said.
Another CBI officer said the decision to create supernumerary posts for teaching and non-teaching staff was taken in May 2022.
The state government had issued a notice after the creation of these posts. “In exercise of the power conferred under Section 19 of the West Bengal School Service Commissions Act, 1997, the Governor has been pleased to create 6861 supernumerary posts of teachers and non-teaching staff,” the notice read.
“Several West Bengal School Service Commission officials will have to be interrogated to understand whether they had floated the proposal,” the officer said.
The high court said the CBI shall submit its report on further investigations preferably within three months “from date” to the jurisdictional court.