Rahul Gandhi writes to President Murmu after SC cancels jobs of 25,000 Bengal teachers

Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi has written to President of India Droupadi Murmu asking her to intervene and ‘take necessary steps’ to ensure the West Bengal teachers who were recruited through fair means are allowed to continue their jobs. The Supreme Court has upheld the Calcutta High Court decision to cancel the appointment of 25,000 teachers and staffers in West Bengal

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the teachers and other staffers to return to their respective schools and “voluntarily” resume duties while the TMC government sought legal recourse.

"I have written to the Honourable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji, seeking her kind intervention in the matter of thousands of qualified school teachers in West Bengal who have lost their jobs following the judiciary's cancellation of the teacher recruitment process.

I have requested her to urge the government to take necessary steps to ensure that candidates who were selected through fair means are allowed to continue." Rahul Gandhi wrote on X.

In his letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Rahul Gandhi flagged that “both judgements found that some candidates were untainted — selected through fair means, and some ‘tainted’ — selected through unfair means”. But, both “tainted and untainted” teachers had lost their jobs, he wrote.

Rahul Gandhi emphasised that while "any crime committed during recruitment should be condemned," it is a "serious injustice" to equate teachers who were selected through fair means with those whose appointments were tainted.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's ruling that invalidated the West Bengal government's 2016 recruitment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff.

The apex court deemed the entire 2016 TET selection process "tainted beyond resolution," reinforcing the High Court's decision to cancel all appointments made through the State Level Selection Test (SLST) due to widespread irregularities.

On Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with the dismissed teachers and urged them, along with other staff members, to return to their schools and “voluntarily” resume their duties while her government pursued legal remedies. She also assured the affected individuals that her administration would protect the jobs of government teachers whose appointments had been invalidated by the Supreme Court last week.