Calcutta High Court's division bench stays single bench order terminating jobs of 32,000 school teachers

'There shall be an interim stay on termination of jobs till the end of September, 2023, or until further orders, whichever is earlier'

TT, 19.05.23 : The Calcutta High Court Friday passed an interim stay on an earlier order terminating jobs of around 32,000 teachers in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided primary schools till the end of September or until further orders.

A single bench had on May 12 ordered the cancellation of appointment of around 32,000 candidates who had not completed teacher training when they were recruited as primary teachers through a selection process in 2016 on the basis of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) of 2014, reports PTI.

"There shall be an interim stay on termination of jobs till the end of September, 2023, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," a division bench presided by Justice Subrata Talukdar directed.

The termination of jobs without giving a chance of meaningful right of defence to the affected parties prima facie requires judicial intervention, the bench, also comprising Justice Supratim Bhattacharya said, while passing its interim order on an appeal by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and some affected teachers.

Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had earlier ordered the cancellation of appointment.

Significantly, the Division Bench granted no stay on the Single Bench order which had simultaneously directed the state Primary education Board to complete the recruitment process in the newly created vacancies within three months

In an unprecedented order last Friday, Justice Gangopadhyay had sacked 36,000 school teachers, a figure which was later rectified to 32,000, on grounds of recruitment irregularities