Calcutta HC dismisses appeals over school jobs recruitment rules, allows holding of selection process

Kolkata: A division bench of the Calcutta High Court Wednesday allowed a selection process for teachers in West Bengal government-run and -aided schools.

The division dismissed appeals by a few candidates against a single bench order, which did not entertain their challenge to some provisions of the recruitment rules of 2025 by the School Service Commission.

The judgment in the four appeals was reserved on Monday after arguments by the parties concluded before a division bench presided by Justice Soumen Sen.

The petitioners challenged before the single bench certain provisions of the rules of 2025 relating to fixation of minimum marks in graduation/post-graduation level to adjudge eligible candidates to participate in the selection process, and changing the pattern of allotment of marks, apart from age relaxation criteria.

The division bench, also comprising Justice Smita Das De, dismissed the appeals by the candidates.

The dismissal of the appeals allows the state government and the West Bengal Central School Service Commission to proceed with the selection process for school teachers.

Passing the judgment, the bench held that the criteria laid down in the recruitment process of 2025 was intended to select the best of the candidates.

It said that the right to education guaranteed in Article 21-A clearly envisages quality education being imparted to the children which in turn would signify that the teacher must be meritorious and the best of the lot.

"Any process which applied equally to all the candidates and was designed to garner the best talent, cannot be called arbitrary or irrational," the bench observed.

It said that the constitutional courts in a judicial review are not functioning as appellate authorities to examine the correctness, suitability and appropriateness of a policy, unless the court comes to a finding that there is any violation of fundamental rights of the citizen or is opposed to the provisions of the Constitution.

The bench said that it is the prerogative of the executive to decide how many appointments will be made.

"The interest of the student is of paramount consideration," the bench said.

Noting that the eligibility criteria in the selection process of 2016, which had been annulled by the high court and upheld by the Supreme Court, are different from the recruitment process of 2025, the bench held that the new rules are more stringent and student-centric.

The division bench said that the revision in the eligibility criterion is in accordance and consonance with the NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) guidelines.

Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the state government, had stated before the bench that the notification for the recruitment of teachers was as per the modern-day requirement and the benefit of students.

As per the court's direction, the state government, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the SSC had on Monday produced before it the copies of the affidavits filed before the Supreme Court in the school jobs case, in which nearly 26,000 jobs were annulled on account of a tainted selection process.