05-01-2026

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Item No.17

Subrata Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction

Bhattacharyya

Appellate Side

AR(C)

WPA No.22282 of 2023

Smt. Arpita Guin

-vs-

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Subir Sanyal, sr. adv. Mr. Shamimul Bari, adv.

Mr. Sourojit Mukherjee, adv.

Mr. Trijit Sankar Mitra, adv. …for the petitioner

Ms. Koyeli Bhattacharyya, adv.

Mr. Bibek Dutta, adv. …for the Board

Mr. Sudip Sarkar, adv.

Mr. Pravankur Ghosh, adv.

Ms. Sneha Maity, adv. …for the school

1. The petitioner claims that she is not in a position

to attend her service in the school since January 8, 2016. The petitioner has annexed several representations in support of her submission that the working condition of the school was not congenial for her to join duty. There are representations before the police, District Inspector of Schools (SE), Birbhum etc. disclosing her inability to join duty. She sought transfer. Her transfer was allowed by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission on March 30, 2016. The transferee school issued a letter of appointment in favour of the petitioner on May 23, 2016 and requested the petitioner to join within five days. The petitioner sought for release order from the school in April 2016 but the same

was not issued.

2. For more than ten years the petitioner has not joined the service. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education treated the absence of the petitioner to be unauthorised and invoked the provision of deemed resignation. The post of the petitioner has been declared as vacant on September 6, 2021. The petitioner is aggrieved by the same.

3. It has been submitted that the Board ought to have considered the situation for which the petitioner was not in a position to join her duties. She has not even received her pay for the last ten years.

4. The communication of the District Inspector of Schools (SE), Birbhum to the Chairman of the West Bengal Regional School Service Commission (Eastern Region) clearly mentions that the petitioner be transferred to some other school as the condition of the present school is having an adverse effect on her mind and that it is absolutely impossible for her to continue service there.

5. The petitioner, inter alia, prays for setting aside the deemed resignation imposed by the Board and seeks for a direction upon the school to issue no- objection certificate so that she may be transferred to a different school where she will be in a position to render her service.

6. According to the Board, as the petitioner remained absent unauthorisedly, her absence has been treated as deemed resignation.

7. It has, however, been submitted that on the date the provision for deemed resignation was invoked, the Board was not aware of all the aforesaid facts which precluded the petitioner to attend her duties. It has been submitted that the Board may revisit the issue in terms of the direction passed by the Court.

8. Learned counsel for the school submits, upon instructions, that the school wants all the litigations in connection with the instant case to be closed.

9. It appears that nearly ten years have elapsed from the date the transfer order was issued in favour of the petitioner. The vacancy in the transferee school may not be available at present. The transferee school falls within the district of North

24 Parganas which is nearer to her residence.

10. Leave is granted to the advocate-on-record of the petitioner to implead the West Bengal Central School Service Commission as a party respondent in the instant writ petition and serve a copy of the writ petition upon the added respondent.

11. Learned counsel for the State shall obtain instructions as to whether vacancy for the post of Assistant Teacher (Education) exists in the transferee school or not.

12. The matter is made returnable on January 19, 2026.

13. All parties are to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court.

14. Certified copy of this order, if applied for, shall be made available to the partie