Authority: West Bengal High Court, Court No.12 (Civil Petition)

Order Date: 18 September 2026

Case Overview

  • Parties: Appellants – West Bengal Board of Primary Education & Others; Respondents – multiple individuals including Sumita Roy, Manashi Paul, Totan Patra, etc., represented by counsel Subir Sanyal, Ratul Biswas, Kaushik Choudhury and others.
  • Background: The appeals arise from an order dated 4 March 2024 (WPA No. 5966 of 2024) that allowed candidates with D.El.Ed. qualifications to sit for interviews while rejecting those who had initially applied with B.Ed. and later sought to switch to D.El.Ed. after the Supreme Court’s decision in Devesh Sharma v. Union of India (2023 SCC Online SC 985).
  • Contentions: Appellants argued that the lower court treated all writ petitioners as similarly situated, overlooking that some candidates originally applied with B.Ed. and only later wanted to switch, whereas others had applied with D.El.Ed. from the outset. Respondents contended that all candidates were similarly situated and that the Board had already permitted qualification changes in certain cases.
  • Reference Cases: The court noted a related decision in Sumanta Koley & Ors. v. State of West Bengal (WPA 2561 of 2024) where switching from B.Ed. to D.El.Ed. was allowed for candidates originally applying with B.Ed.

Final Outcome

  • The court set aside the impugned orders that had been passed collectively without distinguishing the factual differences among the petitioners.
  • The writ petitions are remanded for a fresh (de novo) hearing before the learned Single Judge, who will consider each petitioner’s specific qualification and prayer.
  • Parties are at liberty to approach the Single Judge for early listing and hearing of the matters.
  • All parties are directed to act on the basis of the server copy of this order.

Topics: Education Recruitment, Qualification Switching