NOOR EMAMA KHAN Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ALL these writ petitions have been heard together. In W. P. No. 11613 (W) of 2007, the petitioner (Noor Emam Khan) has stated that he passed his School Final Examinations in the year 1992 and thereafter, the Higher secondary Examinations in 1995 and the Bachelor of Arts from the university of Calcutta in 1997. He has experience of Typing and Short-hand and he is in possession of valid Certificates. He has stated that pursuant to an Advertisement published on 16. 2. 2007 in the "juger khabar", he applied for being appointed in the post of a Lower Division clerk (Group - "c") on 19. 2. 2007. He subsequently came to learn that the written test for Group - "c" and Group "d" posts in the Judgeship of Howrah had been fixed on 11. 3. 2007. The petitioner has stated that thereafter, he, along with a large number of similarly situated persons/applicants, visited the Office of the District Judge Howrah on 9. 3. 2007 when they were told that Interview Letters had been duly dispatched. With such a reply, they became agitated and thereafter, duplicate Interview Letters were issued to all of them including the petitioner informing him that the written tests for selection of Lower Division Clerks (Group - "c") in the Judgeship of howrah would be held on 11. 3. 2007. The petitioner has stated in paragraph-5 that on enquiry many of the applicants including the petitioner came to learn that their Interview/call Letters did not reach the Post Offices at all.

(2.) THE petitioner thereafter appeared in the Written Test on 11. 3. 2007 and according to him, he did extremely well and was expecting that his name would surely appear in the list of eligible candidates for the subsequent process of selection. After a long lapse of time on 28. 5. 2007, the Office of the District Judge, Howrah published a list of those candidates who were supposed to appear for Personality Test on 20. 6. 2007 and 21. 6. 2007. However, the petitioner did not find his name appearing in the said list. He then came to learn that the Selection Committee had selected the candidates by adopting a pick and choose policy and also came to learn that some ineligible and incompetent candidates who had been called for the Personality Test, were close relatives of the staff working under the Chairman of the Selection Committee. The petitioner then made a written complaint/representation on 6. 6. 2007 which was addressed to the secretary, Judicial Department, Government of West Bengal as well as to the District Judge, Howrah but nothing was done. According to the petitioner, the date of publication was 16. 2. 2007 which was a Friday asking the intending candidates to submit their applications in the prescribed pro-forma along with attested copies of documents to the Office of the district Judge, Howrah latest by 5 p. m. on 19. 2. 2007. In the said advertisement, it was also mentioned that no applications would be entertained under any circumstances after 5 p. m. of 19. 2. 2007.

(3.) IN other words, the date of publication being a Friday, the only working days that could "have been counted were 3 (three) working days (Friday, Saturday and Monday) Thus, what the respondents actually wanted were duly filled-up applications within 72 hours and that too through publication in a Paper like the "juger Khabar" which, according to the learned Counsel for the petitioner, is only a bi-monthly local News magazine confined in Howrah. According to the petitioner, as has been stated in Paragraph-11, the Newspaper is an almost unknown Newspaper and is not at all a familiar Newspaper even in the Howrah Town.