India, July 15 -- Four years to get appointment letters, and then their very recruitment stands quashed - this is what has happened to 1,091 assistant professors and 67 librarians in Punjab after a Supreme Court ruling.

Calling out "narrow political gains", the country's top court quashed the appointment of all 1,158 selected candidates on Monday as rules had not been followed in the hiring process.

These teachers and librarians had recently joined duties after being recruited under the 2021 process, which was held just before the Punjab assembly elections of 2022.

The selected candidates had formed a '1158 Front' to seek appointment letters even as some Guest Teachers in the state had challenged their recruitment. The legal battle too...