Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court today 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.
Earlier, a single bench had on May 12 ordered the cancellation of the 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. "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.
In his verdict last week, Justice Gangopadhyay had observed that these 36,000 teachers lacked proper training and brought forward additional allegations of marks manipulation, violation of reservation rules and the absence of aptitude tests. Later the court revised the order and reduced the figure to 32,000 on Monday, May 15.
“If I open my mouth, it will be a 'political statement'. Jobs have been sold in huge numbers. Some are trying to cover the fish behind vegetables. The court is not guilty,” said the Judge, stated reports. 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.
