20 hours ago
SSC Scam in West Bengal: Calcutta HC stays state govt's relief scheme for sacked non-teaching staff
Kolkata: The
Calcutta High Court
on Friday granted an
interim stay
, restraining the
West Bengal government
from implementing a scheme to provide monetary assistance to non-teaching staff (
Group-C and Group-D
) who had lost their jobs following a
Supreme Court judgment
in April this year.
The court has directed the state government to file an affidavit within four weeks and reply, if any, within a fortnight.
The Single Judge Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha, who was hearing the case said, "As an interim measure, the State is restrained from giving any effect and/or further effect to the impugned Scheme till September 26, 2025 or until further order."
Pointing out that the "conflicting stand of the State does not appear to be proper", the court observed that "If it is the specific stand of the State that the review application is pending, then the State ought to have taken leave of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court
to give effect to the impugned Scheme. On one hand the State proceeds to publish a new Scheme without obtaining leave of the Court where the matter is alleged to be pending, and on the other, when the said Scheme is challenged before the Court, the State opposes the same citing pendency of the review application. Such a conflicting stand of the State does not appear to be proper."
The Group-C and D categories, along with the SSC teachers, had lost their jobs after the Supreme Court order on April 3, cancelling the appointments of 25,752 teaching and non-teaching staff in the
cash-for-jobs scam
last month.
The West Bengal government had announced a stipend to Group-C and Group-D under the West Bengal Livelihood Social Security Interim Scheme, 2025 on a temporary basis, providing ₹25,000 and ₹20,000 for non-teaching staff Group-C and Group-D of the sacked employees respectively, to help their distressed families. They were recruited through the 2016 selection process conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission.
Meanwhile, the High Court's order has sparked a
political slugfest
. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee
stood by the employees and their families, who lost their jobs following the apex court order, and took a humanitarian step and decided to provide an interim relief. People can identify who went to court against such a humanitarian stand. Justice Amrita Sinha has given an interim stay today."
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the court's decision, asserting that the Chief Minister cannot unilaterally disburse funds from relief accounts.
