TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee said “very happy and mentally relaxed” on the apex court's verdict.

The top court, however, made it clear that the teachers and non-teaching staff of the state, whose appointments were cancelled by the high court, will have to refund the salaries and other emoluments if it reaches the conclusion that their recruitment was illegal.

The bench, including CJI DY Chandrachud, noted that the state government has nothing to show that the data was maintained and could be made available.

The state government has asked for seven weeks to decide on granting the sanction, the court calls it 'wilful delay'.

The commission said it believed that the 19,000 teachers, whose appointments also stand cancelled on account of a High Court judgment, might have met the necessary qualification criteria as laid down by the appointing authorities.