Mahmooda Khatun And ANR v. State Of West Bengal And ANR.

Form No. J.(2) Item No. DL/3 adeb - AR (CT)

IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction (Appellate Side) W.P.A. NO. 26633 OF 2025 MAHMOODA KHATUN & ANR.

Vs.

THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ANR.

BEFORE: THE HON'BLE JUSTICE SAUGATA BHATTACHARYYA For the Petitioners : Mr. Victor Chatterjee, Adv.

Mr. Pramitava Nath, Adv.

For the State : Mr. Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, Adv.

Mr. Vivekananda Bose, Adv.

Mr. Arkadipta Sengupta, Adv.

Mr. Sandip Dasgupta, Adv.

Mr. Nikat Ojha, Adv.

For the WBCSSC : Mr. Biswaroop Bhattacharya, Adv.

Mrs. Praniti Bandopadhyay, Adv.

Mr. Arka Kumar Nag, Adv.

Mr. Rahul Kumar Singh, Adv.

Hearing concluded on : 19.12.2025 Judgment On : 19.12.2025 SAUGATA BHATTACHARYYA, J.:

1.

Question arises for consideration in this writ petition is whether petitioner no. 2 and petitioner no. 3 would be permitted to change their medium of instruction from English to Bengali before commencement of

P a g e | 2 personality test for being appointed as Assistant Teacher in Mathematics for classes IX and X in connection with 2nd State Level Selection Test, 2025.

2.

Both the petitioners have requisite qualifications for being appointed as Assistant Teacher in Mathematics in classes IX and X in secondary schools. Admittedly they opted English as medium of instruction while submitting OnLine application forms prior to commencement of recruitment process i.e. 2nd SLST 2025. Both the petitioners participated in the written test and thereafter in aggregate petitioner no. 2 was awarded 61 marks whereas petitioner no. 3 was awarded 69 marks.

3.

The category of petitioner no. 2 is OBC-A Mathematics and as the petitioner no. 2 opted English as medium of instruction from the vacancy statement it is found that at present there is no available vacancy under the said category of petitioner no. 2. 4.

Category of petitioner no. 3 is General (Mathematics) and petitioner no. 3 opted English as medium of instruction. He needs to be considered as English medium candidate and under the said category as per statement of vacancy there is one vacancy whereas if petitioner no. 3 is permitted to switch over from English to Bengali as medium of instruction, number of vacancy would be enhanced substantially from 1 to 984.

5.

Therefore, it transpires that in both the cases at the juncture when petitioners are praying for switching over from English to Bengali as

P a g e | 3 medium of instruction that would enhance the scope of getting appointment against post of Assistant Teacher in Mathematics as OBCA and General Category candidates respectively. 6.

Petitioners are not illiterate persons, knowing fully well they opted English as medium of instruction while submitting OnLine forms and they did not approach the Commission for switching over from English to Bengali as medium of instruction prior to commencement of written test. Belated approach to the Commission for switching over from English to Bengali as medium of instruction goes to show that both the petitioners are trying to get the benefit of being considered under a category against which higher number of vacancies are available. 7.

Moreover, it needs to be recorded that under the category of petitioner no. 2 there is no vacancy available at present. 8.

Considering the aforesaid situation Court is not inclined to allow the prayer of the petitioners.

9.

Hence writ petition stands dismissed.

10. Urgent photostat certified copy of the order, if applied for, be given to the parties, upon usual undertakings.

(SAUGATA BHATTACHARYYA, J.)