Calcutta High Court's sets aside order terminating appointment of 32,000 primary teachers

Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday set aside a single bench order that annulled appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal.

These teachers were recruited through the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) of 2014.

The bench, presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities have not been proven in all the recruitments.

The court maintained that the termination of employment after nine years would have a great adverse impact on the primary teachers and their families.

It said that the CBI, which was directed to investigate the matter by the high court, had initially identified 264 appointments in which irregularities took place, following which the names of another 96 teachers came under the agency's scanner.

The court said that in view of this, the entire selection process cannot be cancelled.

A single bench of then Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay on May 12, 2023, had terminated the appointments of these 32,000 primary teachers.