WBTET Row: Calcutta HC quashes order that cancelled 32,000 primary teachers' appointment; Mamata hails verdict

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside a single bench order that had cancelled the appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers linked to the cash-for-jobs scam probe. These teachers were recruited through the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) conducted nine years ago. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hailed the verdict.

The division bench headed by Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra said it did not intend to uphold the single bench order, arguing that “systematic irregularities in all recruitments had not been conclusively proven”.

The court said that dismissal after nine years would have a serious adverse impact on primary school teachers and their families.

In 2023, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of the single bench had cancelled the appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers, citing irregularities in the recruitment process.

Primary Teaching Jobs: Calcutta HC case

Following the TET conducted in 2014, a total of 42,500 primary school teachers were appointed. Of these, the appointments of 32,000 were cancelled by a single bench of the Calcutta High Court.

Justice Ganguly, who retired and joined BJP, in his order had asked the West Bengal government to conduct a fresh recruitment process and complete it within three months.

The division bench, then headed by Justice Subrata Talukdar and Justice Supratim Bhattacharya, had issued an interim stay on the single bench’s cancellation order and gave the state six months to complete the recruitment of a fresh panel, to which the West Bengal government moved Supreme Court to appeal against.

The Supreme Court upheld the stay on the 32,000 appointments and sent the case back to the high court for a final decision.

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On November 12, a division bench comprising Justice Tapobrata Chakraborty and Justice Reetobroto Kumar Mitra concluded the hearing of the case.

In March 2025, the Supreme Court invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff for classes 9 and 12 in Bengal’s government-run schools, made after the State Level Selection Test conducted by the School Service Commission.

Mamata hails HC’s TET ruling

Welcoming the HC decision, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: "We are happy with the court's order. It is a great relief that these teachers' jobs have been saved... We want to create jobs, not take them away," she told reporters.

(With inputs from PTI)