Calcutta High Court Reinstates 32,000 Primary Teachers in Cash-for-Jobs Case

In a major relief for thousands of educators, the Calcutta High Court’s division bench on Wednesday reversed a previous single-bench ruling that had cancelled the appointments of 32,000 primary teachers linked to the 2014 cash-for-jobs controversy. These teachers, selected through the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, had been facing the threat of losing their jobs after nearly a decade of service.

The bench, headed by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, observed that not all appointments were found to be irregular and warned of the severe hardship that mass termination would cause to families dependent on these jobs. While acknowledging the possibility of systemic issues, the judges noted that the evidence did not support annulling the entire recruitment. The bench stated that grievances raised by unsuccessful candidates could not be allowed to “damage the entire system,” especially as data did not indicate widespread wrongdoing.

The dispute stems from petitions alleging extensive corruption, including claims that teaching jobs were sold. A CBI investigation, ordered by the court, flagged 264 irregular appointments and reviewed an additional 96, but did not find grounds to cancel all 32,000 positions. The earlier single-bench decision had cited procedural lapses, such as the absence of an aptitude test and the involvement of an external agency, before invalidating the entire batch of hires. The matter was later transferred to the division bench after a judge recused. The ruling comes against the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s earlier decision to cancel over 25,000 school jobs from a separate 2016 recruitment run by the West Bengal School Service Commission.

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