PAPRI DEY Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In all these writ petitions, an interesting question comes up for consideration and that is whether Ronald Ross made his discovery of mosquito, being the vector of malaria, in Secunderabad or in Calcutta (now Kolkata). An answer to this question is required because it will determine the fate of the writ petitioners, all of whom had appeared in the Teacher Eligibility Test 2012 Examination, which was held on 31st March, 2013, wherein an objective type question was asked with four options given, which is set out hereinbelow:

(2.) All the writ petitioners had written "(A) Kolkata" as the right answer. All of them later found out that their answer "(A) Kolkata" has been marked incorrect. According to the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, "(D) Secunderabad" was the correct answer. The petitioners have now approached this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India specifically stating that the correct answer to the question was "(A) Kolkata" and not "(D) Secunderabad", which would be borne out from copies of documents/records including extracts from various prescribed secondary level text books annexed to their writ petitions.

(3.) On 3rd July, 2014, this Court, upon considering the submissions made by the respective parties, was of the view that a clear answer to the question should lie somewhere in the archives of the National Library, Kolkata. As such, this Court directed the Director General, National Library, Kolkata, to depute a competent person to research the archives in order to find out the correct answer and apprise the Court accordingly on the next date.