Debolina Bagchi v. The State Of West Bengal And ORS
Sl. Nos.08 19.02.2025 Suman Ct. 02 Calcutta High Court In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Appellate Side WPA 358 of 2025 Debolina Bagchi VS.
The State of West Bengal and Ors.
Mr. Sarthak Choludhury Mr. Subhasish Ghosh Ms. Afsana Khatun ..for the petitioner Mr. Joyjit Choudhury, AAG Ms. Bedashruti Bose ..for the State The petitioner submitted an application under the Right to Information Act, 2005, to the State Public Information Officer, Child Development & Women Development & Social Welfare Department, on November 22, 2024, seeking the following information: "B. PARTICULARS OF INFORMATION REQUIRED:
I.
Total marks obtained by the Applicant in written and interview for the selection of Anganwadi Workers under Rajganj, ICDS Project;
II.
Certified copy of the answer sheet of the Applicant in the written examination of Anganwadi Workers under Rajganj, ICDS Project;
III.
Total cut off marks reserved by the selection committee for the selection of the post of
Anganwadi Workers under Rajganj, ICDS Project;"
However, the application was not disposed of, which led the petitioner to file an appeal before the Public Information Officer on December 23, 2024. This appeal also remained undecided.
In the meantime, the petitioner approached this Court by filing WPA 2586 of 2024 (Debolina Bagchi Vs. The State of West Bengal and Others), which was disposed of by a Co-ordinate Bench of this Court on December 20, 2024, with the following orders: "Learned advocate representing the State respondents has submitted a document signed by the concerned Child Development Project Officer on 10th December, 2024 wherefrom it appears that under the category of the petitioner cut off marks was 69.62 whereas petitioner was awarded 62.31.
It is also stated therein that petitioner was awarded 54 marks in written test and 8.31 marks in viva voce."
The petitioner's grievance is that the Appellate Authority should provide her with certified copies of the answer scripts of the written examination. In light of the judgments rendered by the Supreme Court reported at (2016) 3 SCC 417 (Kerala Public Service Commission v.
State Information Commission and in Civil Appeal No. 6723 of 2018 (Mradul Mishra v. Chairman, U.P. Service Commission, Allahabad), it is my view that the State is obligated to
provide answer scripts to examinees in competitive examinations for service conducted by the State. Accordingly, this writ petition is allowed, directing the Appellate Authority, the Public Information Officer, and the District Magistrate of Jalpaiguri to provide the petitioner with copies of the answer scripts for the relevant examination within one month from the date of this order, subject to the payment of the requisite fees.
Consequently, WPA 358 of 2025 is disposed of. Urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the learned advocates for the parties on usual undertakings.
(Kausik Chanda, J.)