Calcutta High Court: In a petition filed seeking State (respondents) to permit the petitioner to submit his application for recruitment to the post of Assistant Teacher in Primary Schools pursuant to Notifications dated 25 September 2025 and 19 November 2025 by enabling access to the online portal for the petitioner or by accepting his application in physical form, Rishad Medora, J. dismissed the petition as the petitioner has not been able to point out any procedural lapse on the part of the respondents in respect of the subject-matter of the present writ petition.
Background
The counsel for the petitioner contended that the petitioner is a TET-qualified OBC candidate and that, by a Notification dated 25 September 2025, followed by a Notification dated 19 November 2025, the West Bengal Board of Primary Education invited online applications from eligible candidates for recruitment to 13,421 vacant posts of Assistant Teachers in Government Aided Primary/Government Sponsored Primary/Junior Basic Schools in all districts of the State, in accordance with the West Bengal Primary School Teachers Recruitment Rules, 2016. The application form concerned was available only on the Board’s website from 3.00 p.m. on 19 November 2025, till 1159 p.m. on 9 December 2025.
He also submitted that the said notification was published only online and, in view of the fact that the petitioner resides in a rural village of Purba Medinipur, the petitioner did not come across it while the application window was open and came to know of it only after the last date for submission had expired, on 27 October 2026. Accordingly, the petitioner could not submit his application within the stipulated period. He further submitted that a Notification dated 14 October 2026, issued by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, would show that the recruitment process was still at the stage of applications and correction of particulars and itself contemplated counselling and document verification at a later stage. The Board had reopened the portal to enable applicants to modify their particulars, and the said portal was open till 31 October 2026. Thus, he sought an order permitting the petitioner to submit his application for recruitment to the post of Assistant Teacher in Primary Schools under the aforesaid notifications, either by enabling access to the online portal for the petitioner or by accepting his application in physical form.
Counsel for the West Bengal Board of Primary Education submitted that it was not true that intimation of inviting applications was made available only online. He handed over copies of several newspaper publications demonstrating that advertisements had been published in newspapers inviting applications from eligible candidates for recruitment to 13,421 vacant posts of Assistant Teachers in Government Aided Primary/Government Sponsored Primary/Junior Basic Schools in all districts of the State, in accordance with the West Bengal Primary School Teachers Recruitment Rules, 2016. He further submitted that the Notification dated 14 October 2026, allowed only those candidates who had applied under the OBC-A and OBC-B categories pursuant to the Notifications dated 25 September 2025, and 19 November 2025, to update/modify their categories. The said notification did not permit fresh applications but only allowed candidates who had already applied to correct/rectify their applications. He further submitted that the writ petitioner could not be permitted to file his application at this stage and that allowing such a prayer would open the floodgates for applications.
Analysis and decision
Perusing the newspaper cuttings handed over in Court, the Court noted that the invitation for applications to the 13,421 vacant posts was made known to the public at large through newspaper advertisements as well as on the internet, and that it was not correct for the petitioner to claim that he had no knowledge since it was allegedly made known on the internet alone.
The Court observed that, in view of the aforesaid newspaper publications, the petitioner was deemed to have had knowledge and notice of the fact that applications had been invited by the respondents concerned. The petitioner could not derive any benefit from the fact that he resided in a rural village of Purba Medinipur. The Court further observed that the Notification dated 14 October 2026, was clear in that it did not permit fresh applications to be made at that stage but only allowed candidates who had already applied within the stipulated period to correct/rectify their applications. Thus, the petitioner could not claim any legal right to file an application at that stage.
The Court noted that the petitioner had not been able to point out any procedural lapse on the part of the respondents in respect of the subject matter of the writ petition, and accordingly dismissed the writ petition. There was no order as to costs.
[Sambhu Charan Bera v. State of W.B., WPA 31497 of 2026, decided on 30-10-2026]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the petitioner: Mr. Imtiaz Uddin, Mr. Anindya Sundar Das, Ms. Shabnam Yeasmin and Ms. Madhurima Dutta, Advocates.
For the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE): Mr. Subir Sanyal, Ld. Senior Advocate, Mr. Ratul Biswas and Mr. Sanshik Chowdhury, Advocates.
For the State: Ms. Aparna Banerjee, Ld. AGP, Mr. Sukanta Ghosh and Ms. Tanushree Ghosh, Advocates.
