ANIL KUMAR BAGDI Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the judgment of the learned Single Judge whereby the learned Judge has dismissed the writ petition. In that writ petition, the petitioner Anil Kumar Bagdi challenged the order passed by the Director of School Education, West Bengal dated 9th/11th September, 2003 in Memo No.222/1 (6)-L.S. By that order the Director of School Education held that the private-respondent in that writ petition viz., Bikash Chandra Saha was a scheduled caste candidate belonging to sunri caste and since he had scored higher marks in the interview for the post of Clerk compared to the petitioner, he should be given the appointment. Short facts are as under: -

(2.) There was a post of Clerk at Barashija Fulur Anchal Vidyalaya in Birbhum District. Both Bikash Chandra Saha as well as Anil Kumar Bagdi applied for the post. This post was meant for.the scheduled caste candidate. Both the contenders belonged to scheduled caste in the sense that Anil Kumar Bagdi belonged to the caste of 'Bagdi' whereas Bikash Chandra Saha belonged to the caste of sunri (excluding Saha). It only so happened that. Bikash Chandra has the surname "Saha". When the panel was sent to the District Inspector of Schools, the District Inspector of Schools directed that all the persons in the panel bearing the surname 'Saha' should be ousted from the panel as because of tha [surname they did not belong to the scheduled caste. This direction was perhaps on the basis of a Memo of the State of West Bengal whereby it was held that all persons belonging to sunri caste but using the surname Saha were not to be treated as scheduled caste. It is an admitted position that eventually this Memo dated 2nd February, 1999 bearing No.182(11)/B.C.N.-B.H.R.S. was ultimately cancelled by another Memo No. 4060-B.C.W./M.R.-185/95 Calcutta dated 15th September, 2000.

(3.) Basing on this, the panel was not approved and hence Bikash Chandra Saha filed a writ petition bearing W. P. No. 8566 (W) of 2000 wherein he claimed that though his surname was Saha, he was armed with a proper certificate in a proper form issued by the appropriate authority whereby his caste was clearly declared as sunri (excluding Saha). He, therefore, pointed out that though his surname was Saha, he could not be excluded merely on the basis of that surname. This argument was based obviously under the reported decision of the Supreme Court in AIR 1967 SC 115, Abhoy Pada Saha v. Sudhir Kumar Mondal. In that case the Supreme Court had clearly held that merely because a person belonging to sunri caste bears the surname Saha he does not loose his status as a scheduled caste candidate. The learned Judge, who entertained the writ petitioner, Ansari, J. (as His Lordship then was) allowed the writ petition with a direction to the Director of School Education to go into the question as to whether there was material available to hold that the petitioner Bikash Chandra Saha belonged to the scheduled caste and was rightly awarded the certificate. In our opinion, such direction was wholly unnecessary because once there was a genuine certificate issued by the proper authority certifying that Bikash Chandra Saha was a scheduled caste as was available-on-record and unless that certificate was cancelled by any proper authority, the certificate held good and that should have been held to be the be all and end all of the matter in so far as it pertained to the status of Bikash Chandra Saha as a scheduled caste candidate.