The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the deadline for completing the teacher recruitment process by the School Service Commission till 31 August next year, offering “temporary relief” to thousands of “eligible” teachers whose employment is at risk.

The apex court had earlier set a deadline till 31 December by which the recruitment of teachers from Classes IX to XII would have to be completed. Accordingly, the SSC had held the written examinations and interviews.

In April this year, a division bench of the Supreme Court upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict from 2024 that had scrapped the panel of teaching and non-teaching staff, around 25,753 employees, recruited by the state level selection test of 2016 and described the entire recruitment process as “vitiated” by a cash-for-jobs scam.

The apex court did provide some relief to the “untainted” teachers who had not adopted unfair means to secure jobs in the state-run and state-aided schools. The SC allowed the teachers to continue teaching till the recruitment process was completed.

The SSC had informed the apex court that completing the recruitment process within the December deadline was not feasible due to a spate of writ petitions challenging recruitment rules.

Appearing for the SSC, Trinamool’s Serampore MP and senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee had argued, the cases slowed down the interview and document verification process, particularly for higher secondary posts. The interviews for the secondary-level teachers are yet to begin.

Senior Trinamool Congress leader and advocate Kalyan Banerjee said the court had accepted the reasons placed before it.

“The state, the SSC and the board were involved. We have almost completed the recruitment process,” Banerjee told regional media outlets. He said the final results for Classes XI and XII would be published on January 7, with counselling beginning on 15 January.

“In the case of Classes IX and X, the selection process will be completed by mid-March, after which counselling will be held. That is why we sought an extension till the end of August,” he said.

Banerjee added that teachers who are not tainted by irregularities would be allowed to continue working and receiving salaries until 31 August.

The state education minister Bratya Basu in a post on X said, the SC order had vindicated the state government and the SSC.

“The SC has given an important order on the recruitment of teachers in Classes IX to XII. The apex court’s order to complete the process by 31 August shows faith in the chief minister’s decision. The working teachers can continue in their positions. The judgement of the bench led by Justice Sanjay Kumar shows the School Service Commission is performing its task with commitment and transparency,” Basu said.

A representative of the “eligible” teachers body, Mehboob Mandal said, had the SC not granted the extension the teachers would have had to go without salaries. “We hope the recruitment process will be completed by 31 August,” he said.

“We want permanent jobs. We are not the culprits here. We lost our jobs because of institutionalised corruption. Many ‘eligible’ candidates have not been called for an interview despite getting the cut-off marks. We want the government to look for legal recourse to allow them to continue as teachers. No eligible candidate should be deprived,” said Chinmay Mandal, a teacher.