KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that she was surprised to hear the Supreme Court judgment, which upheld the Calcutta High Court’s verdict to dismiss 25,700 teachers who were working in state-run schools.
"Have the highest regard for the judiciary but can't accept judgment," added Banerjee.
She, however, emphasised that her government would abide by the SC's decision while exploring all legal options.
"We have to accept the judgment and do whatever is legally possible," she said.
Terming the verdict “illegal,” Banerjee had vowed to appeal against it.
Drawing a comparison with Madhya Pradesh's Vyapam scam, she added, "West Bengal's ex-education minister is in jail, how many BJP leaders were arrested in Vyapam scam?"
Banerjee claimed that her government would give support to those who lost their jobs on April 7; her government will hold a meeting for teachers who lost their jobs.
“I will go to hear them. I can only say don’t be impatient. We are with you, and we will be with you. We may be sent to jail for supporting you, but don’t worry, I will welcome that,” she said in a press conference at Nabanna on Thursday.
She slammed former Mayor of Kolkata and CPI-M leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya and claimed, “After having full faith in judiciary, I am claiming that Bhattacharya should be awarded the Nobel Prize as he pursued the case. What happened during the CPI-M regime? We have documents where CPI-M leaders' wives were given teaching jobs with the help of only a letter. Where is the merit?” she asked.
Moments after the verdict, the state’s Opposition parties slammed the ruling TMC.
“I believe this has been done by the CPI(M) and BJP. We have the highest regard for the judiciary, but I cannot accept this judgment,” said the West Bengal CM, adding, “One Chief Justice of India (CJI) stayed (the High Court verdict), and another Chief Justice cancelled it. Now you can understand what I want to say.”
In April 2024, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court cancelled the illegal recruitment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff by the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC), ordering them to return their salaries with interest. The court also ordered fresh recruitment against the posts within 15 days.
On May 7 last year, the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order but permitted the CBI to continue with its probe.
CM Mamata Banerjee says, "Our lawyers will review this matter. I know candidates are depressed. I will meet them on 7th April at Netaji Indoor."
CPI(M) state secretary Md Selim said, “Mamata Banerjee and TMC imbibed this corruption from the RSS, who first did this corruption in Madhya Pradesh, which we knew as the Vyapam corruption. Our fight will continue to uproot the main culprit of the corruption because before 2011 (when Banerjee came to power), there were school job recruitments, but never a corruption allegation.”
The Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI enquiry in 2022 over the alleged 2016 teacher recruitment scam. During this inquiry, the CBI arrested former education minister Partha Chatterjee, former SSC officials Shantiprasad Sinha and Subiresh Bhattacharya, former TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, and many others in 2022.
However, teachers who lost their jobs were shocked after hearing the court order, and they claimed that they are crying desperately, seeking help from the state government.
Soma Das, who was suffering from cancer, said, "I am astonished after hearing the Court order. Now I don't know what to do. Let's see."
