Ajay Shankar Upadhay & Anr vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 16 January, 2025

Calcutta High Court

Ajay Shankar Upadhay & Anr vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 16 January, 2025

OD-2
                               ORDER SHEET

                               WPO/714/2017

                    IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
                      Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction
                             ORIGINAL SIDE


                     AJAY SHANKAR UPADHAY & ANR.
                                 VS
                   THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS.


  BEFORE:
  The Hon'ble JUSTICE RAI CHATTOPADHYAY
  Date : 16th January, 2025

                                                                          Appearance:
                                                                 Mrs. Shanti Das, Adv.
                                                              Mr. R.D. Bhowmick, Adv.
                                                                   ...for the petitioners

                                                             Mr. Sakti Pada Jana, Adv.
                                                           Mrs. Sudipta Pramanik, Adv.
                                                                  ...for school authority

                                                            Mrs. Tapati Samanta, Adv.
                                                                        ...for the State



       The Court: The affidavit-in-opposition submitted in Court today on

behalf of the respondent no. 3 be taken on record.

The writ petitioners have challenged an order of the District Inspector

of Schools (SE), Kolkata dated November 16, 2017, by dint of which the said

respondent has declined the petitioners’ prayer for approval for the reasons

stated therein. The issues involved in this case have already been dealt with

by this Court and decided upon in the judgment dated December 3, 2024 in

WPO/422/2019 (Rana Pratap Roy v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.),

excepting the issue of the petitioner’s being over-aged.
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Be that as it may, since the facts appear to be similar and the present

petitioner is the teachers of the same school as the petitioner in

WPO/422/2019, the Court finds the ratio in the judgment of this Court in

the said writ petition being WPO/422/2019, be squarely applicable in the

present case.

Mrs. Tapati Samanta, learned Advocate for the State respondent has,

however, raised objections regarding contentions and prayers of the writ

petitioners in this case on the basis of the judgment of the Hon’ble Co-

ordinate Bench dated August 2, 2022 in WPO/140/2018 and the judgment

of the Hon’ble Division Bench dated August 8, 2024, in APOT No. 79/2023.

Considering all as above, the Court finds it proper to direct the

Principal Secretary, Education Department, Government of West Bengal/

respondent no. 1 to take decision afresh on the issues involved in the

present writ petition.

In that event, the order impugned, i.e., the order of the District

Inspector of Schools (SE), Kolkata dated November 16, 2017 is hereby set

aside.

Let the petitioners and the respondent school authority be given

opportunity of hearing, by the said respondent for the purpose.

Let the Principal Secretary also consider the orders of this Court in

WPO/422/2019, WPO/140/2018 and APOT/79/2023, to come to a decision

and record his reasons in a written order. He shall allow the parties to

produce the relevant documents, if any, before him.
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Let the respondent no. 1 consider and dispose of the petitioners’

prayer as has been made in this writ petition, positively within a period of

four weeks from the date of communication of a copy of this order.

With the directions as above, WPO/714/2017 is disposed of.

(RAI CHATTOPADHYAY, J.)

sg.