On December 5, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) lodged a caveat with the Supreme Court, requesting that no judgment be passed against it without first hearing its side if a petition is filed contesting a recent Calcutta High Court ruling on alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers in state‑run schools.
Earlier, on December 3, a two‑judge bench of the Calcutta High Court—Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritabrata Kumar Mitra—reversed a prior single‑judge decision that had cancelled the appointments of 32,000 primary teachers.
After that decision, several dissatisfied groups announced plans to take the matter to the Supreme Court. Senior attorneys from both the BJP and CPI‑M publicly expressed willingness to represent the petitioners.
Expecting that a Supreme Court challenge was inevitable, the WBSSC filed the caveat to ensure the commission could present its arguments before any interim order is issued.
The single‑judge order that annulled the 32,000 jobs was issued by Abhijit Gangopadhyay—then a judge of the Calcutta High Court and now a BJP Lok Sabha MP.
On December 4, the split bench stated that while irregularities had indeed occurred in the recruitment process, it would be unfair to terminate the employment of so many teachers who had served for years.
The bench emphasized that innocent candidates who had no part in misconduct should not lose their jobs, noting that cancelling all 32,000 appointments would inflict serious hardship on the teachers and their families.
The WBSSC’s caveat thus guarantees that the commission will have an opportunity to be heard whenever a petition challenging the High Court’s ruling reaches the apex court.
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