Calcutta High Court reinstates 32,000 teachers, overturning termination in cash-for-jobs case

In a significant ruling on Wednesday, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court overturned a single-bench order that had annulled the appointments of 32,000 primary teachers linked to the 2014 cash-for-jobs scam. The teachers, recruited through the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, had faced the risk of losing their jobs after nine years of service.

The division bench, led by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, stated that not all appointments were proven to be irregular and acknowledged the grave consequences of terminating employment after such a lengthy period. The bench emphasised that the irregularities were not evident in every case, and terminating the teachers' employment would severely impact their families.

“There must have been a possibility of systemic malice, but the assessment of data doesn't point to the same,” the bench stated, as reported by Live Law. “A group of unsuccessful candidates cannot be allowed to damage the entire system. A job taken away after 9 years of service would cause insurmountable difficulty,” it added.

The controversy arose from petitions filed by unsuccessful candidates alleging widespread irregularities in the recruitment process, including cash-for-jobs claims. Investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), under the court’s direction, found 264 appointments to be irregular, and another 96 teachers were scrutinised. However, given that not all appointments were proven to be irregular, the court ruled that cancelling the entire recruitment process was not justified.

The single-bench order had cited the absence of an aptitude test, the involvement of an external agency, and allegations of jobs being sold as reasons for the terminations. The case, initially heard by another bench, was moved to the division bench after a judge's recusal. Formal hearings began in April 2025.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court had upheld a similar decision, cancelling over 25,000 state school jobs from a 2016 recruitment managed by the West Bengal School Service Commission.

(With inputs from PTI)