(1.) This writ petition concerns an appointment in the post of an Assistant Teacher in Work Education and Physical Education Group in Erenda High School in the District of Midnapore. A vacancy in the said post having arisen the respondent school authorities granted permission to fill up the same. Pursuant to such permission the concerned local Employment Exchange was approached by the school authority. The said Employment Exchange had sponsored 20 candidates including the writ petitioner, out of which one had the post graduate degree in Physical Education. The writ petitioner accordingly made a representation before the authority concerned alleging that for the purpose of recruitment in the said post for which permission had been granted by the authority concerned to fill up the same by a graduate candidate. Concerned Employment Exchange had no authority to sponsor a post graduate candidate along with other graduate candidates. The petitioner on such allegation moved a writ petition being C.O. No. 12336 (W) of 1996. The same was finally disposed of by directing the D.I. of Schools (S.E. Midnapore) to consider the said representation of the writ petitioner. The D.I. of Schools during the pendency of the present writ petition had disposed of the said representation of the writ petitioner by holding that the said representation of the writ petitioner was not tenable in the facts and circumstances of this case as in the selection process no extra weightage would be given to the said post graduate degree holder. In the meantime the Selection Committee had prepared a panel of three selected candidates in order of merits which included the respondent No. 12, another candidate and the respondent No. 14. The respondents No. 12 and 14 have been added as party respondents in the present writ petition on the application of the writ petitioner. The respondent No. 12 is the candidate with post graduate degree in Physical Education who had been sponsored as such by the concerned Employment Exchange.
(2.) In the present writ petition the petitioner has raised the self same question that the respondent No. 12 ought not to have been sponsored by the concerned Employment Exchange as he had obtained post graduate degree before being sponsored as such and had accordingly alleged that the panel of selected candidates as prepared by the School Authority by including the respondent No. 12 is illegal in the eye of law. While this writ petition was entertained by this Court by an interim order the D.I. of Schools concerned was directed to consider the case of the writ petitioner. The said D.I. of Schools by his order dated 22nd February, 2000 has held that there has not been any illegality and/or irregularity in the preparation of panel as above by the Selection Committee of the School by including the name of the respondent No. 12 in the said panel as the said respondent No. 12 had not been given any extra marks in the selection process because of his post graduate qualification. The said respondent No. 12 had been placed in the top of the panel, has already been appointed in the said post. The respondent No. 14 having had been placed at serial No. 3 in order of merits in the said panel the question of his appointment does not arise as the respondent No. 12 has already been given appointment in the said post. The other candidate who had been placed at serial No 2 in the said panel was though added as party respondent to this writ petition has not made his appearance in this writ petition.
(3.) In these state of affairs the question has been raised on behalf of the writ petitioner as to whether the entire selection process as also the appointment in favour of the respondent No. 12 upon approval of the panel of selected candidates has been made in accordance with the provisions of law inasmuch as the said respondent No. 12 had been sponsored along with other graduate candidates by the concerned local Employment Exchange even though he had obtained his post graduate degree before being sponsored as such. Mr. Debasish Das, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the petitioner contended that the concerned local Employment Exchange had no jurisdiction to sponsor a post graduate candidate for which the National Employment Exchange was the sole authority. In support of such contention Mr. Das referred to the single Bench decision of this Court reported in 1994(2) CLJ 450 (Bipadtaran Patra v. The State of West Bengal). In the said case the petitioner was the only candidate having a post graduate degree amongst the candidate sponsored by the concerned local Employment Exchange for the purpose of recruitment in the post of an Assistant Teacher. The School Authorities refused to allow the petitioner to appear at the interview. The writ petition filed by him for a direction upon the school authority to permit him to appear at the interview was dismissed in view of Rule 4(a) and Rule 6(k) of the Recruitment Rules prescribing procedure for recruitment of teaching and non - teaching staff of secondary schools. In particular Rule 4(a) of the said Recruitment Rules provides as follows: - ?On receipt of the prior permission, the school authorities shall approach the local Employment Exchange for sponsoring the names of the candidates up to honours graduate level and National Employment Exchange for post graduate candidates according to prior permission within seven days.?