Malda/Kolkata, Dec 3 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday welcomed the Calcutta High Court’s order setting aside a previous ruling that had annulled the appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers for alleged irregularities, calling the verdict a “humanitarian” relief for thousands of families.
The BJP, however, said the judgment has triggered “fresh questions” among unemployed youth and vowed to continue the legal battle.
A division bench, comprising justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Reetabrata Kumar Mitra, said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities have not been proven in all the recruitments. These teachers were recruited in 2016.
The court maintained that the termination of employment after nine years would have a huge impact on the primary teachers and their families.
Speaking to reporters in Malda, Banerjee said the division bench’s decision brought immense relief to thousands of young teachers recruited through the 2014 Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET).
“We are happy with the court’s order. It is a great relief that the jobs of these teachers are saved. We want to generate jobs and not take them away,” she said.
The chief minister added, “The judges have viewed the matter from a humanitarian angle. The families of these teachers have been protected. I am happy. It is not right to run to court every time to take away someone’s job.” The Supreme Court had in April cancelled the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run and -aided institutions after finding that the selection process was tainted.
“These (primary school) teachers were recruited through the TET of 2014,” the bench noted, while making it clear that investigations into alleged irregularities may continue and that cases pertaining to reservation and other issues pending before the single bench would proceed independently.
The now-overturned order was originally passed by a single bench led by then-Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who later resigned from the judiciary and joined politics. He is currently the BJP MP from Tamluk constituency in West Bengal.
Asked about him, Banerjee declined to comment.
“I will not say anything about anyone. The important thing is that the jobs of my young brothers and sisters have been saved,” she said, adding, “Judgments will follow the law, and we respect the courts.” Responding to Banerjee’s remarks, BJP spokesperson and one of the petitioners in the case, Tarunjyoti Tewari, said he has full respect for the court order, but the verdict has raised new doubts among job aspirants who have been alleging corruption in the recruitment process for years.
“What needs to be said about the Calcutta High Court order will be said in the Supreme Court,” Tewari, a lawyer and one of the petitioners in the case, said in a post on X.
“Today’s verdict has created fresh questions in the minds of Bengal’s unemployed youth. Corruption has been given institutional legitimacy,” he said.
Citing the bench’s observations, Tewari said the court had upheld the appointments on the grounds that innocent candidates should not lose their jobs due to the authorities’ faults.
“Humanity and justice are not the same thing,” he argued. “What about the families of those who were deprived?” He said several Supreme Court judgments, from the Tripura teacher recruitment case to recent West Bengal SSC-related rulings have made clear that appointments tainted by corruption cannot stand.
“The fight will continue. The court has said investigations into corruption will continue, and cases before the single bench will go on. Whatever would have the ruling in this case, the final word would have come from the Supreme Court, and it still will,” Tewari said.
Calling the issue a fight against “institutional corruption” under the Trinamool Congress government, he added, “As long as TMC remains in power, such corruption will continue. The deprived candidates understand everything today.” PTI PNT NN
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