– Mita Mukherjee 

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside a single bench order which terminated the appointments of 32,000 teachers of state-aided primary schools in Bengal in connection with the cash-for-jobs scam case and retained their services. The appointments were based on the 2014 Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET).

The court observed that it has not been proved that all the appointments were irregular. It also held that terminating the appointments after nine years would have an adverse effect on the teachers and their families.

The bench held that “a group of unsuccessful candidates cannot be allowed to damage the entire system.”

The division bench comprising Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar refused to uphold the single bench order saying that irregularities had not been proven in all cases. The single bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had cancelled the jobs in May 2023.

“There must have been a possibility of systemic malice, assessment of data doesn’t point to the same…. A group of unsuccessful candidates cannot be allowed to damage the entire system… A job taken away after nine years of service would cause insurmountable difficulty…” the bench observed.

The bench held that cancelling the entire appointment process would not be justified as investigations held by the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) under the court’s directive showed that there were irregularities in 264 appointments and another 96 cases had come under scrutiny.

Welcoming the order chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “I welcome the order and I am happy that the teachers have received justice and the families have been saved.”

Following the High Court order, Bengal education minister Bratya Basu posted on X: “In the context of the judgment delivered today by the Honourable High Court’s Division Bench, I extend my congratulations to the Primary Education Board. The judgment of the High Court’s Single Bench has been annulled. The jobs of 32,000 primary school teachers remain fully secure. My best wishes also to the teachers. Truth has triumphed.”  

The single bench had earlier cancelled the appointments saying that aptitude tests were not held and an external agency had been involved in the selection process. It had also cited several allegations that jobs were given in exchange for money.

In 2014, the West Bengal Primary Education Board issued notification for the TET to appoint teachers to fill up 43,000 vacant posts in state-aided primary schools.

Nearly 25 lakh candidates took the test. Around 120 candidates moved the court alleging that they were not selected despite clearing the TET and the appointments of around 32,000 candidates were illegal as they were selected despite scoring less. They also alleged that the primary education board had not conducted the aptitude test for these candidates.

According to the rule, TET-qualified candidates are required to appear in an aptitude test to make it to the merit list.

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