Key Points

They are protesting against the Mamata Banerjee-led State Government after nearly 26,000 teachers lost their jobs in connection with the SSC recruitment case, following a Supreme Court judgment which held that the whole appointment process was "tainted."

On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's decision to quash the recruitment of more than 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal SSC in 2016 for state-run and aided schools.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar found that the West Bengal SSC's selection process was based on large-scale manipulations and fraud.

"In our opinion, this is a case wherein the entire selection process has been vitiated and tainted beyond resolution. Manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up, have dented the selection process beyond repair and partial redemption. The credibility and legitimacy of the selection are denuded", the apex court bench stated in its judgement.

The apex court further found no reason to interfere with the High Court's direction that the services of all "tainted" candidates should be terminated and that they should be required to refund any salaries/payments received.

"Since their appointments were the result of fraud, this amounts to cheating. Therefore, we see no justification to alter this direction", the bench added.

The top court's verdict came on a petition filed by the West Bengal government that challenged an April 2022 order of the Calcutta High Court, which had cancelled the recruitment of more than 25,000 teachers and other staff for state-run and aided schools.

The Supreme Court had reserved its judgment in the matter on February 10.

- ANI