The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a final opportunity to submit responses to petitions challenging a Calcutta High Court order that invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in government and aided schools in West Bengal.

Among the petitions challenging the high court’s April 22 judgment is one filed by the West Bengal government itself. The Supreme Court, which is reviewing 33 petitions related to this matter, has scheduled a final hearing in three weeks.

During the proceedings, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud noted that many parties had not yet filed their response affidavits, including the West Bengal government where it is named as a respondent.

“We will give them one opportunity… If any respondent intends to file a counter affidavit, they must do so within two weeks. Failure to do so will result in the closing of the right to file a counter,” stated the CJI.

The bench issued several procedural directives and appointed four lawyers as nodal counsel to compile electronic details obtained from various party lawyers.

“If we do not undertake this exercise, drafting the judgment will become impossible,” remarked the CJI.

Additionally, during the hearing, a lawyer requested the bench to direct the CBI to submit a status report on its ongoing investigation.

Earlier on May 7, the Supreme Court had provided relief to teachers and non-teaching staff affected by the high court’s decision to annul their appointments due to irregularities in the recruitment process. The court allowed the CBI to continue its investigation and cautioned against precipitative actions like arrests during the probe.

However, the Supreme Court emphasized that if the recruitment was found illegal, those affected would be required to refund salaries and benefits received.

The Calcutta High Court’s ruling had not only cancelled the appointments but also instructed the CBI to investigate the process and report back within three months.

The appointments in question were made following the State Level Selection Test (SLST)-2016, with 25,753 appointments issued against 24,640 vacancies. The high court ordered those appointed outside the official vacancies, after the recruitment deadline, and those who obtained appointments despite submitting blank OMR sheets, to return all earnings and benefits with 12% annual interest within four weeks.