Supreme Court Sacks 25,000 Teachers: Major Blow to Mamata Banerjee Government

Supreme Court Fires 25,000 Teachers: Huge Setback for Mamata Banerjee Government

Mamata Banerjee Government Had Appealed Calcutta High Court Verdict in Supreme Court

In a huge face loss for the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, the Supreme Court has affirmed the Calcutta High Court’s order, revoking the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff under the West Bengal School Service Commission. The Supreme Court held that the entire selection process was “vitiated by manipulation and fraud,” and its credibility and legitimacy were “denuded.”

The bench, which included Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, said that there was no basis to intervene in the High Court ruling. The court underscored that the appointments were made due to cheating and were therefore fraudulent.

The court has ordered the state government to hold a new selection process within a period of three months. Those who clear this new process will not be required to refund the salaries they received after their appointment in 2016. However, those who fail to clear this new process are required to refund their earnings. The court also granted relaxation to individuals with disabilities to enable them to continue in their current positions.

The Mamata Banerjee government had appealed against the High Court decision in the Supreme Court and had insisted on a segregation of tainted and untainted candidates.

At the eye of the storm are supernumerary posts instituted by the state government. More than 23 lakh candidates had taken the state-level selection test in 2016, vying for 24,640 available posts. But 25,753 appointment letters were issued, raising serious doubts about illegal recruitment made possible by these additional posts.

Irregularities in the recruitment process of teachers have turned out to be a big embarrassment for the Trinamool Congress government. A number of top leaders, including a former education minister and right-hand man of Mamata Banerjee, are already behind bars in relation to the case.

BJP senior leader Amit Malviya called the Supreme Court judgment a “crushing defeat” for Mamata Banerjee. “Mamata Banerjee’s closest aide, Partha Chatterjee who was the Education Minister and found in possession of bundles of money—already faces arrest in the scam. The Chief Minister who is responsible during whose tenure this giant fraud derailed the lives of thousands of youths, has to face the music as well and undergo trial,” he said.