In a major blow to the Trinamool Congress in the midst of general elections the Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered the cancellation of appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made through the recruitment process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal Government-sponsored and aided schools, declaring the selection process as “null and void”.

The court directed the “illegal recruits” to return their emoluments drawn in the past several years within four weeks.

As the order came barely a couple of days after Bengal Opposition Leader Suvendu Adhikari presaged a “massive explosion that will shake the foundations of the TMC,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee immediately called the court order “illegal” and vowed to move the Supreme Court for justice.

“Now you can see the relationship between what he (Adhikari) said about a possible explosion and the order that has come today … this is an illegal order … I am not talking about the Judges but the order … we do not accept this order dictated by the BJP … We do not accept this order that will throw 26,000 people out of their jobs affecting 1.5 lakh or even more people directly … we will go to the higher court,” Banerjee said at an election rally in North Dinajpur.

Bengal SSC Chairman Siddharth Majumdar said that the SSC would move the Apex Court. “We will go through the 300-page order... discuss and understand the legal aspects,” he said.

Incidentally Adhikari had a couple of days ago said that “a big explosion is coming in the next week that will shake the very foundation of this corrupt and anti-people Government,” leading Banerjee to tell the people in a different rally that the BJP was out to assassinate her and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee who is also the general secretary of the party.

In the devastating order which is unprecedented in the history of Bengal and probably rare in the Indian judicial history the Bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi, the Court not only directed the entire panel of 25,750 teachers and non-teaching staff appointed through a School Level Selection Test in 2016 and asked the CBI to undertake further investigation on the appointment process, and submit a report within three months.

The Bench also directed the CBI to investigate into the government proposal to regularize the services of alleged illegally appointed teachers by creating supernumerary posts.

“If required the CBI can take these decision makers up in the ladder he or she may be in custody for the sake of investigation,” advocate Shamim said.

Besides the defendant appointees were also asked to return their financial benefits to the Government within four months. The Bench formed by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on a direction of the Supreme Court extensively heard numerous petitions and appeals relating to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12, and Group C and D staffers.

The Court earlier had directed the School Service Commission to find out the illegally appointed teachers but it failed to do so even as it failed to produce the hard copies of the OMR sheets and other digital and other digital and credible evidence to prove the bona fide of the exams.

The appointments were made through the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools.

The recruitment scam has seen a number of senior bureaucrats and TMC politicians including the then number two in the Cabinet Partha Chatterjee going to jail along with MLA and TET chairman Manik Bhattacharya, and two other TMC legislators.