Chandigarh, Aug. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the 1,158 assistant professors and librarians to continue their services in government colleges until fresh recruitment takes place. Welcoming the orders, higher education minister Harjot Singh Bains said that this is a big relief and would ensure uninterrupted education for students in government colleges across Punjab. The government had moved the apex court seeking a modification of its July 14 order that quashed the appointment of 1,158 assistant professors and librarians in government degree colleges in the state. The Supreme Court had cancelled these appointments, observing that there was 'total arbitrariness' in their selection that was carried out in violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. A bench of justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran, in its order, set aside the September 2024 decision of the division bench of the Punjab and Haryana high court, which had upheld these appointments. Following the orders, the Punjab government moved the SC seeking modification of orders, requesting that assistant professors and librarians be allowed to continue for the time being in the interest of students in the colleges. "Chief minister Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government is committed to saving the 1,158 recruitment and is actively working on filing a review petition in the Apex Court," Bains said. "We will put the strongest case forward to ensure that the rights of educators and librarians are protected," Bains added....