- (1.) PURSUANT to the prior permission granted by the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Burdwan, on 5th September, 2008, the school authority of Balgona Sharadamoni Balika Bidyalaya initiated a selection process for filling up the vacancy in the post of Group ?D? staff. After holding an interview of the eligible candidates, a panel was prepared by the selection committee but the said panel was neither accepted by the Managing Committee of the said school nor the said panel was submitted to the concerned District Inspector of Schools for his approval. As a result, the said panel could not be taken up for consideration by the concerned District Inspector of Schools for deciding the issue regarding grant of approval to the said panel.
(2.) HOWEVER, ultimately pursuant to the directions passed by this Hon?ble Court in two earlier writ petitions being W.P. No. 9133(W) of 2009 and W.P. No. 6313(W) of 2009, the papers were submitted by the Head Mistress of the said school to the concerned District Inspector of Schools on 3rd July, 2009. On perusal of those papers, the concerned District Inspector of Schools found the following irregularities in the process of preparation of the said panel:- i) Consolidated score sheets were not signed by two members (i.e. Head Mistress and the Panchayat nominee Rakohari Roy) among the four members of the selection committee. ii) Present Managing Committee did not take resolution in its any meeting to approve/comment/examine the panel in question before submission of the same before the aid District Inspector of Schools for his approval. Considering the aforesaid irregularities, the said District Inspector of Schools refused to approve the said panel and the school authority was asked to make fresh prayer for prior permission for filling up the said vacancy as per the current Recruitment Rules. The petitioner herein who was a participating candidate in the said selection test has filed the instant writ petition challenging the legality of the aforesaid order passed by the said District Inspector of School on 21st October, 2009.
(3.) HAVING heard the learned advocates of the parties and after considering the materials on records, though this Court does not find any illegality in the first part of the impugned order by which the concerned District Inspector of Schools refused to grant approval to the said panel, but at the same time this Court cannot approve the direction given upon the school authority to seek prior permission for filling up the said vacancy as per the current Recruitment Rules, for the reasons given hereunder. Considering the irregularities in the process of preparation of the said panel as pointed out by the concerned District Inspector of Schools in the impugned order, this Court holds that the said panel cannot be approved. As such the concerned District Inspector of Schools rightly refused to approve the said panel. However, this Court cannot be oblivious of the fact that the selection process in the present case was initiated under the old Recruitment Rules of 2005, before the new Recruitment Rules of 2009 came into operation with effect from 9th July, 2009. Not only the prior permission was granted under the old Recruitment Rules of 2005 but also selection test was held prior to the cut off date i.e. 9th July, 2009. As such the participating candidates? right to be considered for appointment in the said post under the old Recruitment Rules of 2005, cannot be denied in view of the Division Bench of this Hon?ble Court in the case of Sehanshu Jas and Ors. Vs. State of West Bengal and Ors. Reported in 2001(2) CLJ 558.;