IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION ORIGINAL SIDE Present:

THE HON’BLE JUSTICE RAJASEKHAR MANTHA AND THE HON’BLE JUSTICE AJAY KUMAR GUPTA APO 86 /2025 IA NO: GA/1/2025, GA/2/2025 KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ORS.

VS.

RIHAN SANYAL & ORS.

WITH APOT/187/2025 IA NO: GA/2/2025, GA/3/2025 UJJWAL KUMAR SARKAR & ORS.

VS.

SRI RIHAN SANYAL & ORS.

WITH OCOT/5/2025 KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION & ORS.

VS.

SRI RIHAN SANYAL & ORS.

For the Kolkata Municipal Corporation : Mr. Partha Sarathi Bhattacharjee, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Swapan Kr. Debnath, Adv.

Mr. Subhrangsu Panda, Adv.

For the Respondent Nos. 5-10/

Appellants in APOT/187/2025 : Mr. Jayanta Kr. Mitra, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Sudip Ghosh, Adv.

Sk. Imtiajuddin, Adv.

Mr. Bidish Ghosh, Adv.

For the Writ Petitioners/

Cross-Objectors : Mr. Ranajit Chatterjee, Adv.

Mr. Prasenjit De, Adv.

Mr. Aniruddha Mitra, Adv.

For the State in APO 86/2025 : Mr. Asish Kumar Guha, Adv.

Mr. Rajendra Chaturvedi, Adv.

For the State in APOT 187/2025 : Mr. Tapan Kr. Mukherjee, AGP Ms. Sangeeta Roy, Adv.

Ms. Tuli Sinha, Adv.

Reserved on : 11.12.2025 Judgment on : 19.12.2025 Ajay Kumar Gupta, J:

1. These three appeals have been taken up for hearing analogously and for disposal by a common judgment since they arise out of the same judgment and order dated 20-11-2024 passed by the Single Bench of this High Court in WPO 133 of 2021 with IA No. GA 1 of 2021 (Sri Rihan Sanyal and Ors. vs. State of West Bengal & Ors.).

FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The background facts leading to the present appeals and cross objection are as under: -

a. The writ petitioners belong to the General/Unreserved (UR) category and were serving as Executive Engineers (Civil) under the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). They have challenged an office order dated 3rd March, 2021, issued by the Chief Manager (Personnel), KMC, whereby six out of the ten existing vacancies for the year 2021 in the cadre of Deputy Chief Engineer (Civil), KMC were filled up by promotion from the post of Executive Engineer (Civil), candidates belonging to the scheduled caste (SC) category.

b. During the pendency of the writ petition, the petitioner nos. 1 to 8 were promoted to the post of Deputy Chief Engineer (Civil) at different points in time. Petitioner nos. 9, 10, and 11, however, have still not been promoted. Respondent nos. 5, 7, and 8 have, in the meantime, been promoted to the next higher post of Director General (Civil) on August 2, 2024. The petitioners have assailed the said order on multiple grounds, which are as follows: -

i. That the ceiling limit of 22% reservation for SC category candidates prescribed under Section 5 of the West Bengal Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes (Reservation of Vacancies in Services and Posts) Act, 1976 (in short ‘the 1976 Act’) had been breached.

ii. That three SC candidates were already occupying posts of Deputy Chief Engineer (Civil), out of a cadre strength of 19, permitting promotion of only one more SC candidate in the normal course. Promotion of five SC candidates would result in SC candidate representation increasing to 26.31%, breaching the statutory limit.

iii. That even after accounting for a carry-forward vacancy as submitted by the KMC, the appointment of six SC candidates still violated the 22% ceiling limit prescribed by law. The appointments of Ujjwal Kumar Sarkar and Sanjoy Kumar Mondal (Respondent nos. 5 and 6) as UR candidates were illegal, as they were promoted merely on the basis of seniority, without any merit-based assessment, contrary to the rules of promotion.

iv. That the vires of Rule 10(d) of the Rules framed under the 1976 Act was bad in law. Rule 10(d) permits appointment of an SC candidate against an ST vacancy and vice versa, in case of unavailability of the respective category candidate. The Petitioners prayed for the said Rule to be struck down, and the promotion granted to Respondent no. 10, Swapan Karmakar, on conversion of an ST post into an SC post, be cancelled.

v. Lastly, the promotion granted to two SC candidates, Durjoy