NIRUPAMA BARMAN Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both the appeals arise out of the same Order dated 3rd October, 2012 passed by a learned Judge of this Court in the writ petition being W.P. No. 10402 (W) of 2010 whereby and whereunder the said learned Judge dismissed the writ petition on merits without granting any relief to the writ petitioners herein, who are the appellants in the present appeals. The appellants herein participated in the selection process for the post of Anganwadi Helpers and were also empanelled for appointment. The life of the panel was for a period of two years only. After the expiry of the initial period of two years, life of the said panel was again extended for a further period of one year. During the extended period of the life of the panel in question, a legal proceeding was initiated before this Court on behalf of the appellants herein. The learned Single Judge, however, refused to grant any relief to the appellants herein only on the ground that the life of the panel in question had expired.

(2.) This Court specifically held in the case of Prabir Sinha Roy & Ors. vs. The Hon ble The Chief Justice, High Court, Calcutta & Ors., 1996 2 CalHN 497 that the claim of the empanelled candidates cannot be defeated on the ground that the validity of the panel expired during the pendency of the litigation. In the aforesaid decision, this Court also held that the candidates will have a right to be considered for appointments to the vacant posts in question which occurred before the expiry of the validity period of the panel.

(3.) Subsequently, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the case of State of U.P. vs. Ram Swarup Saroj, 2000 AIR(SC) 1097 specifically held that the relief cannot be refused on the ground of expiry of the life of the panel during the pendency of the litigation. The relevant extracts from the aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court are set out hereunder: