Today, during a hearing on the West Bengal government's appeal against a Calcutta High Court decision to nullify approximately 25,000 appointments made by the state school service commission, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and his bench posed challenging inquiries to the state authorities.

The bench headed by Chief Justice queried the West Bengal government regarding the rationale behind establishing supernumerary positions and appointing candidates from the waitlist, especially when the integrity of the selection process had already been contested in court.

Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, representing the West Bengal government, guided the court through the details of the Calcutta High Court's order, questioning its viability. He raised doubts about whether such a sweeping order could be upheld, stating, "It is not even the CBI's contention that all 25,000 appointments are illegitimate. The entire balance, including the teacher-child ratio, is disrupted."

Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the school service commission, contended that the jurisdiction of the high court bench to annul the appointments was questionable, citing discrepancies with previous Supreme Court rulings. When Chief Justice inquired about the destruction of OMR sheets and scanned answer sheets, Gupta confirmed it. The Chief Justice further questioned why a tender wasn't issued for handling such a sensitive matter.

The Chief Justice then asked if it was the commission's duty to keep digital copies of these sheets. When Mr Gupta responded that it is with the agency that the work was outsourced to, the Chief Justice asked, "Where? CBI did not find it. It is outsourced, not with you. Can there be a greater breach of security protocols? They were only hired for scanning, but you let them have the entire data. You cannot say they took it away, you are responsible for maintaining people's data."

"There is no data (with you) at all." Mr Gupta replied, "That may be."

When he asked if the high court's directions were fair, the Chief Justice replied, "But this is systemic fraud. Public jobs are extremely scarce today and are looked at for social mobility. What remains in the system if their appointments are also maligned? People will lose faith, how do you countenance this?"

Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, also representing the commission, emphasized that the high court's judgment did not indicate any irregularities on the commission's part.

"If we lose a whole chunk or generation in between, we will lose senior headmasters and examiners for the future. Lordships may bear in mind that many of them did not get any notice. When there is a headache, you do not cut off your entire head," he said.