Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
Chinmay Mukherjee vs The State Of West Bengal & Ors on 23 July, 2025
23.07.2025
11
Ct.No.7
sdas
WPA 21307 of 2024
Chinmay Mukherjee
Vs.
The State of West Bengal & Ors.
Ms. Pampa Dey (Dhabal)
.....for the petitioner
Mr. Nabhajit Prfasad Basu
Mr. Arindam Mitra
...... for the State
Affidavit-in-reply filed on behalf of the petitioner
is taken on record.
The present writ petition has been preferred
challenging the legality and propriety of the Memo.
dated 9th August, 2024, passed by the District Inspector
of Schools, upon receipt of the application from the
petitioner for transfer on special ground as per Rule
4.1(a) of G. O. No. 159-SE/S/IS-4/95(Part) dated 27th
February, 2015.
Ms. Dey (Dhabal), the learned Advocate
appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submits that the
petitioner, serving as an Assistant Teacher at Arambagh
High School, initially applied for a transfer on special
grounds through the online Utsashree Portal. Although
the petitioner duly uploaded the transfer application on
the said portal, the school authorities failed to forward
2
the same to the District Inspector of Schools (DI/S).
Subsequently, the Utsashree Portal was suspended.
In view of the suspension of the portal, the
petitioner submitted a fresh application for transfer in
offline mode. This offline application was duly
forwarded to the District Inspector of Schools.
However, the District Inspector of Schools rejected the
petitioner's request for transfer solely on the ground
that the Utsashree Portal is temporarily suspended.
She further submits that the petitioner's prayer
for transfer, being made on special grounds, cannot be
denied merely on the ground that the Utsashree Portal
is presently non-operational or temporarily suspended.
In support of her contention, the learned Advocate
places reliance on an unreported judgment delivered by
a Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court in FMA 532 of
2024 (Prantik Gayen vs. The State of West Bengal &
Ors.), wherein it was held that the temporary
suspension of the Utsashree Portal cannot be a valid
ground to reject a legitimate prayer for transfer.
She accordingly prays for a direction upon the
concerned respondent authority to consider afresh the
petitioner's prayer for transfer, upon setting aside the order of rejection passed by the District Inspector of Schools.
Mr. Mitra, learned Advocate representing the State, submits that the school authority is the 3 appropriate authority to consider the petitioner's application for transfer.
Despite service, the school authority is unrepresented.
Heard the learned Advocates representing the respective parties and perused the materials on record.
Vide Notification dated 27th February, 2015, issued under the relevant provisions of the West Bengal School Service Act, 1997, the School Education Department framed the West Bengal School Service Commission (General Transfer, Transfer on Special Grounds and Reallocation) Rules, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as "the 2015 Rules"). Rule 4 of the said Rules provides that a teacher or a non-teaching staff member of a school is entitled to apply for transfer on special grounds.
Subsequently, in order to streamline and facilitate the process of transfer applications, the School Education Department introduced the Utsashree Portal and directed all teaching and non-teaching staff of schools to submit their transfer applications online by uploading the requisite data through the said portal. However, by a subsequent Notification dated 28th June, 2024, it was notified that the Utsashree Portal had been temporarily suspended.
As noted earlier, citing the temporary suspension of the Utsashree Portal as the sole ground, the District 4 Inspector of Schools rejected the petitioner's prayer for transfer on special grounds by an order dated 9th August, 2024.
The 2015 Rules has created a substantive right in favour of a teacher and non-teaching staff to apply for transfer on special ground and also for general transfer. Only to facilitate the processing of the transfer application online Portal was introduced and suspension of such Portal cannot take away the substantive right created by the Rule 2015. Support of this view shall be obtained from the decision rendered in case of Prantik Gayen(supra).
Therefore, having heard the learned Advocates for the parties, and upon perusal of the materials on record as well as applying the proposition laid down in the decision of Prantik Gayen (supra), the order passed by the District Inspector of Schools is hereby set aside.
District Inspector of Schools is also directed to consider the offline application presented before him by the petitioner requesting his transfer on special ground. However, before taking any decision on the petitioner's request for transfer on special ground, an opportunity shall be afforded to the petitioner and representative of the school authority.
If the District Inspector of Schools finds that the petitioner's prayer for transfer on special ground is justified, next follow up action shall be taken. 5
If the District Inspector of Schools comes to a conclusion that the petitioner's contention lacks merits, a reasoned order shall be passed and the same shall be communicated to the petitioner.
Entire exercise shall be completed within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.
With these observations and order, the writ petition is disposed of.
There shall be no order as to costs.
(Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, J.)