'Mentally Relaxed': Mamata Reacts After SC Stays Calcutta HC Order Cancelling 25,753 Jobs In Bengal

The Supreme Court rejected the Calcutta High Court order to quash the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the state's School Service Commission (SSC).

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday reacted to the Supreme Court order staying the Calcutta HC order annulling the appointment of 25,753 teachers in the state by saying that she is mentally relaxed on receipt of justice.

She congratulated the teaching fraternity and lauded the apex court decision which stayed the Calcutta HC's April order invalidating the appointments of teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools of West Bengal.

On her social media platform, X (formerly Twitter) wrote, " I am really very happy and mentally relaxed on receipt of justice at the highest Court of the land. Congratulations to the entire teaching fraternity and my humble regards to the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India."

SC Stays Calcutta HC order

As per PTI, the Supreme Court rejected the Calcutta High Court order to quash the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the state's School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools.

However, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, and Chief Justice DY Chandrachud allowed the CBI to investigate and look into even state cabinet members.

However, the apex court instructed the CBI to refrain from acting quickly during the investigation, such as by arresting a suspect.

Earlier in the day, it referred to the alleged scam as a "systemic fraud" and stated that the state authorities were duty-bound to maintain digitised records on the appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff.

Several petitions contesting the April 22 ruling of the Calcutta High Court—which nullified the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff—were being heard by the highest court.

"Public job is so scarce.... Nothing remains if the faith of the public goes. This is systemic fraud. Public jobs are extremely scarce today and are looked at for social mobility. What remains in the system if their appointments are also maligned? People will lose faith, how do you countenance this?" the CJI raised a query to the lawyers representing the state government.

The bench expressed doubts about the state government's ability to provide evidence that pertinent data was kept up to date by the authorities and inquired about its accessibility.

"Either you have the data or you do not have it.... You were duty-bound to maintain the documents in digitised form. Now, it is obvious that there is no data. You are unaware of the fact that your service provider has engaged another agency. You had to maintain supervisory control," the bench stated the state government's lawyers.

The state government had contested the Calcutta High Court's ruling, claiming that it had "arbitrarily" cancelled the appointments.