A Division Bench of High Court comprising Justices Pranab Kumar Chattopadhyay and P K Deb cancelled the appointments made by the District Primary School Council of East Midnapore, saying instead of making two separate panels for 2005 and 2006 for recruitment, the council came up with just one panel, which was illegal.

The decision has left the state government in a fix since the teachers have already been appointed. If it cancels their appointments now, it will likely face massive protests.

“We have not received the copy of the court’s order so far. We will consider whether to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court in consultation with the minister and other officials of the education department,” said Taraknath Roy, the district inspector of schools in East Midnapore.

The state government could not make any recruitment to the posts of primary teachers after 2006 because of legal hurdles.