In a significant legal blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led administration, the Calcutta High Court has scrapped 1,600 supernumerary teaching positions created by the West Bengal government. The court ruled the creation of these posts for upper primary vocational and physical education as unlawful.
Court Slams 'Illegal' Posts, Upholds Constitutional Morality
The decisive order was delivered on Thursday, December 4, 2025, by a single bench of Justice Biswajit Basu. In a sharp observation, Justice Basu stated that "Constitutional morality never becomes worthless in the face of political morality." The bench firmly held that the 1,600 posts were "illegal" because they were generated in 2022 based on a recruitment panel that had already expired in 2019.
The judge remarked, "An attempt has been made to revive a dead panel by injecting life into it." The court clarified that while the state government possesses special executive powers, these cannot be exercised arbitrarily to infringe upon individual rights or bypass the established legal framework for recruitment.
Details of the Cancelled Recruitment and Government's Defence
Of the total cancelled supernumerary posts, 750 were for Work Education and 850 for Physical Education. The state government had defended its 2022 decision, arguing that these additional vacancies were necessary to address a shortage of subject-specific teachers in schools.
However, the court was not convinced. It directed that no recruitment shall be carried out against these now-cancelled posts. If the state wishes to fill fresh vacancies, it must issue a new notification and conduct a completely new recruitment process. The two government notifications from 2022 that enabled the creation of these posts have been struck down.
Petitioner's counsel, Firdous Shamim, told the media, "The cabinet took an illegal decision, just to give their favourite persons a job. We challenged the notification, and the court set aside the order." The petitions were filed following allegations of corruption in the appointment process for these posts.
Long-Standing Dispute: A Timeline of Legal Battles
The controversy has a long history, rooted in the broader recruitment processes of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
- 2016: The WBSSC began a large-scale recruitment process for teaching and non-teaching staff.
- May 2022: Amid ongoing litigation over alleged irregularities, the state's school education department created 6,861 supernumerary posts to absorb waitlisted candidates, which included the 1,600 posts for Work and Physical Education.
- November 2022: Justice Biswajit Basu imposed an interim stay on the creation and recruitment for these specific posts. Later that month, a division bench directed the CBI to investigate the decision.
- April 2025: The Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order for a CBI probe into the cabinet decision itself but allowed the investigation into irregular appointments to continue.
- May 2025: A Calcutta High Court division bench refused to lift the stay on appointments, maintaining the status quo.
- December 4, 2025: Justice Basu's single bench delivered the final verdict, cancelling the 1,600 supernumerary posts.
This ruling adds another chapter to the protracted legal saga surrounding teacher recruitment in West Bengal, emphasizing the judiciary's role in checking administrative overreach and upholding procedural integrity in public employment.
