IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE Present:

The Hon’ble Justice Ananya Bandyopadhyay W.P.A. 11639 of 2016 A.B.M. Rizwan Zaman -Vs-

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

For the Petitioner : Mr. Shuvanil Chakraborty Ms. Priyanka Patra For the Respondent Nos.2 to 5 : Mr. Ranjay De Mr. Basabjit Banerjee Mr. Adityajit Abel Bose Heard on : 28.03.2024, 11.06.2024, 19.06.2024, 26.07.2024, 04.10.2024 Judgment on : 22.04.2025 Ananya Bandyopadhyay, J.:-

1. The petitioner sought a writ of mandamus directing the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd. (WBPDCL) to appoint him as a stenographer. He had cleared the written, trade, and personal interview stages in the recruitment process but was ultimately rejected on grounds that his English shorthand speed, as per the certificate submitted during interview, was 80 wpm—below the 100 wpm stipulated in the recruitment notification. Despite later submitting another certificate showing 120 wpm, the petitioner’s representation was ignored.

2. The Learned Advocate for the petitioners argued that since he cleared the trade test, which evaluated typing speed, he met the eligibility criteria. He claimed the certificate was a formality and that vacancies still existed, especially for the OBC-A category to which he belonged.

3. The Learned Advocate for the Respondents contended that the petitioner was ineligible as per the required qualifications and thus had no enforceable legal right. They argued that selection processes are beyond judicial scrutiny and highlighted that the final appointment depended on document verification. The respondents maintained that only the certificate produced during the interview was considered, and vacancies could not be filled by ineligible candidates.

4. The Learned Advocate for the Respondents also noted that the stenographer post had since been upgraded to Junior Personal Assistant and a new recruitment process was undertaken in 2018, in which the petitioner did not participate.

5. The present writ petition concerns the petitioner’s challenge to the decision of the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as WBPDCL) denying him appointment to the post of Stenographer, despite his participation in and clearance of the written, trade, and personality tests conducted under the Employment Notification No. WBPDCL/Recruitment/2014-15/04. The petitioner had submitted his application for the said recruitment process and appeared for the written examination held on 29.03.2015, for which his name was published in the list of qualified candidates. Subsequently, he was called to appear for the Trade Test held on 11.07.2015 vide Memo No. COHRA03010020/3294 dated 29.06.2015. Thereafter, the petitioner received a call for the Personality Test scheduled on 17.08.2015 at the Bidyut Unnayan Bhaban, Corporate Office of WBPDCL, vide Memo No. COHRA03010010/3775 dated 28.07.2015.

6. Pursuant to his appearance in all stages of the selection process, no appointment letter was issued to the petitioner. On filing an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005 addressed to the Director (HR) of WBPDCL, the petitioner was informed through a reply dated 02.03.2016, bearing Memo No. COHRA06310004/1333, that although he was shortlisted and called for subsequent stages of the recruitment process, scrutiny of his credentials revealed that his stenography certification, obtained from the Steno Institute dated 17.02.2015, reflected an English shorthand speed of only 80 words per minute and typing speed of 30 words per minute on the computer. This was below the minimum eligibility criteria as per the said Employment Notification, which required a shorthand speed of 100 words per minute and typing speed of 40 words per minute.

7. The petitioner had also obtained another certificate from Ideal Commercial College indicating a shorthand speed of 120 words per minute and typing speed of 40 words per minute. He submitted that this ce