A total of 1,400 primary teachers have resigned from service in Bihar fearing government action over possessing fake education degrees, a senior officer of the education department said on Thursday.

More such teachers are expected to resign in the coming days after a high court order asked those possessing fake education degrees to quit their jobs on their own to avoid facing legal action, reports PTI.

"A total of 1,400 teachers have resigned from service. More resignations are expected as we have fixed a deadline of July 8 for it. The final figure of those who resigned would be known only after it," education department principal secretary R.K. Mahajan said.

Mahajan said action would be taken against teachers possessing fake certificates who do not resign within the stipulated period. FIRs would be lodged against them, their services would be terminated and the government will move for recovery of salary and other benefits given to them, he added.

The high court order came through a division bench of Chief Justice L. Narasimha Reddy and Sudhir Singh while hearing a bunch of public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Ranjit Pandit and others.

Bihar has over 3.5 lakh primary teachers and the PILs allege that a large number of them took up the job on basis of fake papers. The state government has asked its vigilance department to probe the education qualifications and has deputed eight deputy superintendents of police and 38 inspectors.

The state government submitted before the high court that it would take at least three to four months to complete the task, which led to the court ordering a time frame under which action wouldn't be taken against those who resign on their own.