IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction

Appellate Side

Present :- Hon’ble Justice Amrita Sinha

WPA No. 26937 of 2025

Somnath Pramanik & Ors.

Vs.

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

For the writ petitioners :- Mr. Pratik Dhar, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Samir Halder, Adv. Mr. Snehal Sinha, Adv.

For the State :- Mr. Sandip Dasgupta, Adv.

Ms. Mahima Cholera, Adv.

Mr. Niket Ojha, Adv.

For the WBCSSC :- Mr. Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Sr. Adv.

Mr. Biswaroop Bhattacharjee, Adv.

Ms. Pramiti Bandopadhyay, Adv.

Mr. Arka Kumar Nag, Adv.

Mr. Rahul Kumar Singh, Adv.

Heard on :- 27.11.2025 Judgment on :- 27.11.2025

Amrita Sinha, J.:-

1. As many as thirty-one petitioners have joined to file this writ

petition claiming to be members of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Physically Handicapped (PH) category. They participated in the recruitment process for appointment of assistant teachers under

2^nd SLST, 2025.

2. They submitted their application form in response to the

notification published by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission on May 30, 2025. The last date of filing the application

along with the application fees was July 14, 2025, later extended till July

21, 2025.

3. At the time of filling in the application form, the petitioners mentioned their castes and also paid the fees meant for SC/ST and PH that is Rs.200/. Application fee for the general and OBC category candidates is Rs.500/-.

4. On June 24, 2025, the Commission published a notice mentioning that having regard to orders which may be passed in Special Leave Petition (Diary No.34016 of 2025) State of West Bengal –vs- Amal Chandra Das & Ors., the category details are not being collected and will be collected in due course prior to the applications being processed.

5. A further notice was published by the Commission on July 30, 2025 in respect of all concerned in connection with 2nd SLST that in view of the order dated July 28, 2025 passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in SLP (C) NO.17422 of 2025 (State of West Bengal –vs- Purabi Das & Ors.) and other connected matters, the online portal will be opened for collection of category details from August 5, 2025 to August 11, 2025. The candidate will have to log in and choose the edit option. Then, the candidate will have to select the category from the drop down menu. The candidate will also have to specify his sub-category.

6. Yet another notice was published by the Commission on August

5, 2025 notifying that in continuation of the earlier notice dated July 30, 2025 all candidates are informed irrespective of their category, to mention their specific category (castes/class EWS/PH etc.) in the respective place in their application form through the edit option provided in the website from August 5, 2025 to August 12, 2025. It was clarified that only candidates from OBC category were required to mention their sub-category from the drop down box. Others (including General category candidates) will mention their category only.

7. Last of such notice was published on September 22, 2025 mentioning that the candidates are provided opportunity to update/edit caste category from September 22, 2025 to September 26, 2025. It was mentioned that any candidate who fails to update the category within September 26, 2025 shall be treated as General.

8. The petitioners did not avail the edit option provided by the Commission by its various notices starting from June 24, 2025 till September 22, 2025.

9. According to the petitioners, as they mentioned their caste details at the time of filing the application form at the very initial stage within the stipulated time period, there was no requirement for updating further caste details.

10. It has been submitted that the petitioners paid the fees meant for SC/ST & PH candidates. According to the petitioners, their right to be treated in a particular class crystalized on the last date of filing the application and there was no requirement for making any edition or alteration in their caste category.

11. In support of s