The main legal point established in the judgment is that the jurisdictional question relating to the exercise of writ jurisdiction should be raised at the earliest possible opportunity, and the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the writ application.

JUDGMENT

I.P. Mukerji, J.

This matter relates to the non-teaching employees of the hostel/ mess of Malda Polytechnic, in our state. They filed the instant writ application asking for an order in the nature of mandamus commanding the Malda Polytechnic and the respondent authorities to treat them as the employees of the college and to grant them the scale of pay and other allowances including service benefits that were being received by the non-teaching employees.

The learned single judge by his judgment and order dated 21st May, 2010 held the writ petitioners (respondents in this appeal) to be permanent non-teaching Group- D employees of that college and on that basis were entitled to salaries and allowances. In the impugned judgment and order the learned judge has observed and held the following:-

a) The petitioners were appointed as cooks, assistant cooks, helper in accordance with the rules and formalities in the hostel and mess of the college. b) Their names were sponsored by the employment exchange. They were so appointed after their names were entered in an approved panel after undergoing an interview procedure.

c) The appointments were approved by the Director of Technical Education by a memorandum dated 7th December, 1981.

d) Since 1981 the petitioners have been serving the institution. The petitioners were declared to be the permanent Group –D employees of the college being entitled to salary and allowances contained in the letter of appointment from the respective dates of appointments and other “admissible benefits”. The petitioners are “legally entitled to the pay scale Rs.2600-4175.”

e) It is impossible to comprehend “how in the above circumstances” the petitioners could be treated as employees of the hostel committee.

f) In an identical situation, a division bench of this court in West Bengal vs. Sridam Sarkar and Ors. reported in (1996) CWN 237 held the petitioners before it to be permanent employees of the Kalyani University hostel.

Now, some facts need to be noticed.

By a notification dated 4th December, 1975 issued by the technical branch of the Education Department of the Government of West Bengal, it was stated that Malda Polytechnic was being taken over by the government and “its reorganization and maintenance as a government polytechnic”……was “with effect from the date of this order.”

Another notification was published on 7th December, 1981. It stated that in every mess and hostel attached to an engineering and technological college, polytechnic or junior technical school or institution for the handicapped, there would be a hostel committee of central students welfare committee to be constituted in the manner prescribed by the Director of Technical Education, West Bengal. The Committee was entrusted with the duty of maintaining the “service records of the employees concerned.” The scale of pay was prescribed. It said that these employees would be entitled to 50% of the dearness allowance sanctioned by the state government for their employees of comparable scale of pay. The employees would retire at the age of 60 years and be entitled to the retirement gratuity of half months’ pay for each completed year of service subject to a maximum of fifteen months.

By a government order dated 7th October, 1996 in modification of the circular dated 7th December, 1981 the dearness allowance and basic pay of these employees were increased.

By another government order dated 20th July, 2000 the basic pay of the employees of the aforesaid institutions was increased with effect from 1st January, 1996 notionally and actually from 1st January, 2000.

On 5th April, 2002 the revised pay to be fixed notionally was to be from 1st February, 1999.

By a subsequent notification dated 28th October, 2014 the hostel and mess employees of state aided universities in West Bengal were to be treated as non-teaching employees of the respective institutions. Their salaries and allowances in