Calcutta HC Puts Interim Stay On Supernumerary Appointments In Upper Primary Section Of Bengal Schools

IANS, May 7, 2025, Kolkata :  The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday placed an interim stay on supernumerary appointments of teachers for upper primary sections in state-run schools of West Bengal.

These appointments for upper-primary sections were for the two subjects of physical education and work education, for which the state government created supernumerary posts for recruitment from candidates in the waiting list.

This is not the first time that the Calcutta High Court has put a stay on supernumerary appointments for the upper-primary sections. Last month, the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar had upheld the order of a Calcutta High Court division bench cancelling 25,753 teaching (secondary and higher secondary) and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools, appointed by the West Bengal School Service Commission.

However, the Supreme Court did not intervene in the state government’s decision to create supernumerary posts in the upper primary section.

Thereafter, the state government approached the Calcutta High Court for permission to go for the supernumerary appointments. After a prolonged hearing in the matter, a single-judge bench of Justice Biswajit Basu opted for an interim stay on such supernumerary recruitments.

The matter will come up for hearing again on June 18.

Recently, a group of such candidates for teaching posts in the upper primary section protested in front of the chamber of Calcutta High Court’s senior advocate and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya.

Their grudge against Bhattacharya was that his legal arguments often led to cancellation of school jobs in West Bengal. During those protests, the protesters also used derogatory comments on Justice Basu because of some negative observations by the latter in certain cases on alleged school-job scam.

Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam took cognisance of the matter and directed Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma to investigate the matter and identify the protesters. The high court also registered a suo motu contempt of court case in the matter.