India, June 20 -- The Calcutta High Court ordered a stay till September 26 on the West Bengal government's monthly stipend for 2016-batch Group-C and D school staff, whose appointments were scrapped by the Supreme Court in April over a bribe-for-job case, according to lawyers who were present at the hearing on Friday.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced on April 26 monthly stipends of Rs.25,000 and Rs.20,000 for the jobless Group-C and D staff, respectively.

"The order directed the state to file an affidavit in four weeks explaining why public money should be used to pay stipend to people whose appointments have been cancelled by the Supreme Court without provision for any relief," lawyer Firdous Shamim, who represented petitio...