Kharagpur Pharmaceutical Institute Represented By The Principal And ANR v. State Of West Bengal And ORS.

HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE

Present:

THE HON'BLE JUSTICE JAY SENGUPTA WPA 27944 of 2024 Kharagpur Pharmaceutical Institute & Anr.

Vs.

The State of West Bengal & Ors.

For the petitioners :

Mr. Bikram Banerjee, Ms. Debapriya Mitra, Ms. Sinjini Chakrabarti.

For the State :

Mr. Sirsanya Bandopadhyay, Mr. Ritesh Kr. Ganguly.

For the WBSC :

Mr. Tapan Kr. Mukherjee ld.SC., Mr. Suman Dey.

Heard on :

22.11.2024 Judgment on :

22.11.2024 JAY SENGUPTA, J:

1.

This is an application praying for change of examination centre for students of the petitioner/college in D. Pharma Course (Part-I) Examination, 2024 either to home centre or to a centre nearby.

2.

Affidavit of service filed on behalf of the petitioners is taken on record.

3.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submits as follows. On 11.11.2024, a notice was published that the petitioner's were to take their examinations at the centre Sidhu Kanhu Birsa Polytechnic, Keshiary, Paschim Medinipur. This is a place which is quite a distance away from the home centre/college. The examination centre is near a jungle and wild elephants often visiting the area. In March 2024, a school teacher had died after being attacked by wild elephants. Therefore, it would not be safe for the students of the petitioner/college to go there and sit for examination at that centre. 4.

Learned senior counsel representing the West Bengal Vocational Council denies the allegations made in the writ petition and submits as follows. The examination centre is a Government Polytechnic College where students regularly do classes. The fear expressed by the petitioner is absolutely unfounded. One cannot discount any kind of accident at any place. That does not mean that a Government Centre for Education would be discarded as an examination centre. 5.

This Court fails to find any logic in the proposition that since an unfortunate incident had happened near the area in the month of March 2024, the same would be repeated at the time of holding examination at the centre in question. The centre in question is a Government Polytechnic where students regularly do their classes.

6.

Therefore, no further order need be passed in this regard. 7.

However, to allay the fears of the petitioners, the local Police authorities and the Forest Officials shall take appropriate measures to ensure that during the period of examination, no untoward incident of such kind happens. For this

purpose, the concerned Divisional Forest Officer and the Superintendent of Police, Paschim Medinipur shall depute adequate number of personnel to ensure the safety and security of the persons sitting in the examination at the centre. 8.

With these observations, the writ petition is disposed of. 9.

Parties to act on the server copy of this order downloaded from the official website of this Court.

(Jay Sengupta, J) NB/13