New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a batch of over 40 writ petitions filed by over 350 teachers and non-teaching employees claiming appointments in various recognised Madrasahs in West Bengal after the West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission Act, 2008, had been declared unconstitutional by a Single Judge and subsequently affirmed by a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court.

The petitioners claimed that they had been regularly appointed and were therefore entitled to receive salaries under the State Government's Grants-in-Aid Scheme.

They also challenged a committee's decision rejecting their individual claims after the Supreme Court, in February 2023, had constituted the panel to examine appointments made following the Calcutta High Court's judgment. The committee ultimately rejected their claims.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih examined several representative cases after asking the petitioners to identify the most glaring instances.

Has the Court scrutinised issues including whether the Madrasahs concerned had valid recognition at the time of appointment and whether their Managing Committees were legally constituted?

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Holding that none of the representative cases made out any ground for relief, the Bench ruled that the writ petitions were devoid of merit and dismissed the entire batch, thereby rejecting the claims of all the petitioners.