Calcutta High Court Clears Teacher Hiring, Raps TMC Rally Venue, Seeks Campus Poll Plan

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the West Bengal School Service Commission’s 2025 teacher-recruitment rules, allowing the hiring drive to proceed under the new framework rather than an earlier 2026 draft notification. The division bench said the state may award the additional marks stipulated in the 2025 rules and directed the commission to resume the stalled selection process. In a separate matter, the court gave the West Bengal government two weeks to state its position on holding long-pending student-union elections in colleges and universities. The order came on a public-interest litigation filed by advocate Sayan Banerjee, who argued that campus polls have been overdue for two years despite earlier judicial directions. The bench also expressed displeasure over the Trinamool Congress’s annual Martyrs’ Day rally, scheduled for 21 July in central Kolkata, saying the event should be moved to an alternative venue from next year to ease traffic congestion. While refusing to shift this year’s gathering at short notice, the court instructed the police and organisers to ensure roads remain unobstructed and asked the Police Commissioner to file an affidavit guaranteeing smooth traffic flow. On the same day, the High Court cleared the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s ‘Uttar Kanya Chalo’ protest march, directing the authorities to facilitate the route approved by the petitioner and maintain law and order during the demonstration.