The Calcutta high court on Friday stayed an earlier order of the same court terminating jobs of around 32,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided primary schools till the end of September or until further orders.

On May 12, a single bench of justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay had cancelled the appointments of 36,000 primary school teachers who were recruited in 2016 in alleged violation of norms. Five days later, the same bench corrected its order and revised the figure to 32,000.

On Friday, a division bench of justices Subrata Talukdar and Supratim Bhattacharya stayed the order. “There shall be an interim stay on termination of jobs till the end of September 2023, or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” it said.

The division bench also ordered that the West Bengal Board of Primary Education will, however, conduct the recruitment exercise for candidates who were untrained at the time of recruitment, including candidates who have obtained training qualifications in the meantime, within three months, as directed by the single bench.

The court had said that in the exercise, both the interview and aptitude test of all examinees will be taken and the whole interview process has to be videographed carefully and preserved.