The Supreme Court on Monday (July 13, 2026) rejected the claims of over 350 teachers and non-teaching staff seeking regularised appointments and state-funded salaries in recognised madrasas in West Bengal in accordance with a grant-in-aid scheme.
A Bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta said none of the petitioners could persuade the court about the merits of their respective cases.
Over 40 petitions had been filed by 361 petitioners who claimed to have been appointed to various madrasas in the State following the declaration of West Bengal Madarasa Service Commission Act, 2008 as unconstitutional and its confirmation by the Calcutta High Court.
The case came up before the Supreme Court with questions, including whether the madrasas in which the petitioners were appointed were validly recognised. Another question was if these madrasas were run by valid managing committees.
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The court held that appointments made after March 14, 2016, (when the apex court stayed the operation of a High Court verdict) without obtaining express permission of the apex court was ex facie illegal and unsustainable. In 2014, the Calcutta High Court struck down the Act, a decision upheld by its Division Bench in 2015.
However, the Supreme Court stayed the verdict in March 2016. In February 2023, the top court constituted a committee to determine the validity of appointments made after the Calcutta High Court’s 2015 verdict.
The three-member committee had submitted a report holding the appointments invalid. The aggrieved employees had challenged the committee’s findings before the top court.
“A painstaking exercise was undertaken by the committee, which revealed that not a single claim met the threshold of a valid appointment. No claim was found to be genuine on individual assessment, and the rejection was on merits and not on technicalities,” the Bench observed in its judgment.
Published - July 13, 2026 12:03 pm IST