Two teachers appointed by the School Service Commission for teaching classes IX and X in Bengal were directed by Calcutta High Court on Tuesday to submit an affidavit on how they were recruited as the court is convinced their names were not in the merit list.

As a minor relief for the state government, a division bench of the court gave a two-week stay on a single bench order to hold a CBI probe into the recruitment of teachers that has been stalled for the last six years for a number of reasons.

The directive came on a day which marks completion of 365 days, though staggered, of waiting for appointment letters by candidates who had appeared for the state-level selection test. They have been sitting, almost forgotten by the rest of the city, near the Gandhi statue on Mayo Road crossing in the maidan area to draw the attention of the government to largescale nepotism at work.

“The names of at least a few thousands were uploaded on the recommendations made by some members of the School Service Commission,” alleged Illyas Biswas, one of the agitators at the Gandhi statue. “If the state government removes the names of all those who were included on recommendations, at least 2,500-3,000 of us will get our jobs. That is what we want.”

Instead of teaching, Biswas, a resident of Nadia’s Chapra who had cleared the SLST that was held on November 27, 2016, has to be at Mayo Road from 10am to 5pm every day, praying for the court to intercede on their behalf or the government to change its mind.

The first 29 days were in front of the Press Club in Calcutta in March 2019.

“The chief minister met us. A committee was also formed to look into our grievances. Nothing came of it. Rather, it appeared that the committee was trying to undermine the movement,” said Biswas.

The assurances were made before the Lok Sabha polls and forgotten once the election was over. Next, the aspirants spent 187 days at Salt Lake’s Central Park since January 2021 and finally another 149 days at Mayo Road since October last year till now.

Tuesday's order pertains to the teachers identified as Juin Das, teaching at a school in East Midnapore, and Azad Ali Mirza of Maldah. They will have to give their written testimony before the division bench of the Calcutta High Court within 48 hours.

“This is not the first time that those appointed by the backdoor have been singled out by the court. There is just no end to it,” said a candidate who has been part of the protests.

“There is doubt whether those who got appointments had actually appeared for the exams or not. Their names are not in the merit list or the waiting list. How did they get the jobs?” she asked.

The next hearing of the case is on Thursday.