A Calcutta High Court division bench on Tuesday set aside the state government’s decision to recruit 500 employees on a contractual basis in lower courts.

The division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya upheld a decision of Justice Arindam Mukherjee of the court.

The single-judge bench had set aside a state government notification, issued last year, to hire 500 contractual employees in lower courts in North and South 24-Parganas.

On Tuesday, the bench reacted sharply to the state government’s decision to appoint contractual employees in various departments.

“There should be a limit on recruiting staff on a contractual basis in government offices and the judiciary. It has become the practice of recruiting contractual employees. Recruitment of permanent staff has almost stopped,” the chief justice said.

“The process of recruiting contractual employees may not be transparent. Moreover, contractual employees lose chances of promotion in jobs. So, the court cannot allow the government to appoint more and more contractual employees.”

The West Bengal Court Employees Association had moved the high court challenging the validity of the state government’s notification to hire contractual employees.

Following the petition, Justice Arindam Mukherjee declared the state notification invalid.

The state government moved an appeal against the order.

According to the state law department, a total of 8,439 posts were lying vacant in lower courts across the state till last year. Last year, 6,323 posts were filled.

The state government notification was intended to fill up 500 of the remaining 2,116 vacant posts.