Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Sukanta Chakraborty vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 3 February, 2023
03.02.2023
Item No.07
Court No.18
AJ.
W.P.A. 10218 of 2022
Sukanta Chakraborty
-Vs-
The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Mr. Lal Ratan Mandal,
Mr. Probal Sarkar.
....for the petitioner.
Dr. Sutanu Kumar Patra,
Ms. Supriya Dubey,
....for the WBCSSC.
Mr. Swapan Kumar Datta, A.G.P.,
Mr. Tapas Kumar Mandal.
....for the State.
The petitioner participated in the 1st State
Level Selection Test, 2016 for recruitment of
Assistant Teachers in upper Primary level Schools in
the subject English.
The grievance of the petitioner is that she was
not called for personality test.
Dr. Patra, learned counsel for the Commission
submits that the petitioner since has acquired her
professional qualification after the last date of
submission of the application for such appointment,
she is not entitled to be called for the personality
test.
Mr. Mandal, learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that as the application from both the
trained and untrained candidates were invited, the
petitioner cannot be denied the opportunity of the
personality test for want of professional qualification
on the cut-off date for submission of such
application, particularly when the petitioner had
acquired the B.Ed qualification prior to the date
fixed for verification of the documents of the
candidates found eligible in the written test.
October 03, 2016 (5.00 P.M.) was the last date
for submission of the application in relation to the
selection process of 2016. The petitioner admittedly
had obtained her B.Ed degree in the year 2019.
The third proviso appended to Rule 4(1) of the
West Bengal School Service Commission (Selection
for appointment to the post of Teachers for upper
primary level of Schools) Rules, 2016 mandates that
the certificates received on or before the last date of
the application and mentioned in the application
form, shall be counted for academic and professional
qualification.
Besides aforesaid, the entire selection process
of 2016 was once set aside by a Co-ordinate Bench
of this Court vide judgment and order dated
December 11, 2020 passed in the W.P.A 9597 of
2019 along with other similar matters. The
Commission, by the said judgment was directed to
hold fresh selection process of all candidates who
were found eligible under Rule 12(2) of the aforesaid
Rules, 2016.
The learned Single Judge in the said judgment
did not accept the argument of the Commission that
third proviso to the Rule 4(1) of the said Rules, 2016
is directory and procedural in nature.
The necessary corollary of the aforesaid
finding is that the said proviso is mandatory.
That being the position, this Court is of the
opinion that the petitioner is not entitled to be called
for the personality test, accordingly W.P.A. 10218 of
2022 is dismissed. There shall, however, be no order
as to costs.
Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if
applied for, be supplied to the parties subject to
compliance with all requisite formalities.
(Biswajit Basu, J.)
