Justice Amrita Sinha of the high court reserved her verdict on a petition challenging the state government’s decision to give an allowance to sacked Group C and D employees.

Representing the petitioners who challenged the decision, advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya said that instead of taking back with interest the money the sacked non-teaching employees got as salaries, the state government was giving them an
allowance.

These employees stand accused of illegalities in securing their appointment, he told the court.

The state’s advocate-general, Kishore Datta, said the state was giving the allowance as a temporary measure and has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on the sacking.

Justice Sinha reserved her judgment after hearing the arguments.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on April 27 announced that the sacked Group C and D employees would get ₹25,000 and ₹20,000, respectively, as monthly allowance.

On April 3, the Supreme Court terminated 25,753 jobs at the secondary and higher secondary levels of government-aided schools because it said the entire 2016 hiring exercise carried out by the school service commission was “vitiated”.

In a modified order on April 17, the court allowed the teachers “not specifically tainted” to work till December with their salaries.

However, it provided no relief to the non-teaching staff, saying the scope of irregularity in their recruitment was “substantially high”.

Bhattacharyya told the court: “According to the Supreme Court verdict, these Group C and D staff have lost their jobs. They were appointed illegally. The court asked these candidates to refund the money they received as salary since their appointment in 2016. Instead of trying to get the money back, the government has decided to give them an allowance. This is illegal, and the court should issue a stay on the government’s decision.”

The judge told the advocate-general: “How can your government take such a decision? These people will receive money without doing anything? How can the government spend money from its exchequer this way?”

She also said the government should stop paying the allowance.

When Datta said they had lost their jobs, the judge said: “So what? Lakhs of people are not getting jobs. Why is your government not paying allowances to them?”

Datta said: “This is a completely separate issue. The state has sought a review before the Supreme Court. Till the petition is settled... the state has decided to give them an allowance.”