06.08.2025 16 Ct.No.7 sdas WPA No. 19472 of 2023 Samit Maiti & Ors. Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Saptangshu Basu, Ld. Sr. Adv. Mr. Soumya Majumder. Ld. Sr. Adv. Mr. Sankha Maity Ms. Antara Panja Mr. Aditya Sinha ..…for the petitioners Mr. Arjun Roy Mukherjee Mr. D. Dasgupta .…. for the State Despite service none appears on behalf of the Corporation. Fourteen individuals, presently engaged on a contractual basis as ‘Floor Assistant-cum-Data Entry Operators’ with the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Limited (hereinafter referred to as "the Corporation"), have filed the present writ petition praying for the issuance of an appropriate writ, particularly in the nature of mandamus, directing the concerned respondents to extend to them the benefits under Notification No. 192-IT/06/2020/P&AR-E-Gov dated 16.10.2020 and Notification No. 1875-F(P2) dated 17.04.2023. The notification dated 16.10.2020 stipulates that contractually engaged IT personnel shall be granted security of engagement up to the age of 60 years and shall not be terminated except on the grounds specified 2 in Notification No. 90008-F(P) dated 11.09.2011. Further, under Notification No. 1875-F(P2) dated 17.04.2023, the Finance Department, Government of West Bengal, enhanced the professional fees/remuneration of Data Entry Operators. Succinctly stated, the essential facts leading to the filing of the present writ petition are that the petitioners were initially employed as Data Entry Operators (for short, DTE) in privately operated warehouses used for the storage and handling of foreign liquor, as well as at the business premises of various private liquor and Excise wholesalers. Subsequently, the State of West Bengal adopted a policy decision to take over the entire wholesale liquor trade from private entities. In furtherance of this policy, the Corporation undertook the computerization of key operational areas, including supply management, retailer e- payments, invoicing, warehouse management, finance and accounts, among others. The Data Entry Operators, including the petitioners, who were previously engaged in privately operated warehouses, were absorbed by the Corporation on a contractual basis in 2017 through Webel Support Multipurpose Service Cooperative Society Ltd, after successfully clearing an interview, and their positions were designated as ‘Floor Assistant-cum- Data Entry Operators’. In 2018, the petitioners also 3 underwent formal training. The engagement of those DTE was renewed periodically. In 2020, the Department of Personnel & Administrative Reforms (e-Governance Cell), Government of West Bengal, issued a notification dated 16.10.2020, providing security of engagement to contractually engaged IT personnel up to the age of 60 years. The petitioners submitted a representation to the concerned respondents, requesting that the benefits under the notification dated 16.10.2020 be extended in their favour. However, the Deputy Secretary (Technical) to the Government of West Bengal, in a communication dated 19.09.2022 addressed to the Managing Director of the Corporation, observed that the requisite qualification for Data Entry Operators, as prescribed in Memo No. 5859-F(Y) dated 22.07.2013, is ‘Graduation with a Certificate in Computer Applications’ to receive the benefits under the notification 16.10.2020. It was further noted that most of the Floor Assistant-cum- Data Entry Operators were undergraduates and did not possess the required technical qualifications. Subsequently, under Notification No. 1875-F(P2) dated 17.04.2023, the Finance Department, Government of West Bengal, enhanced the professional fees/remuneration of Data Entry Operators. In the light of these circumstances, the petitioners prefer the present writ petition. 4 Mr. Basu, learned Senior Advocate appearing for the petitioners, draws attention to the notification dated 13.06.2017, which amended the West Bengal Excise (Foreign Liquor) Rules, 1998, by inserting Rule 23. He submits that pursuant to this amendment, the State of West Bengal decided not to renew licenses for private warehouses used for the deposit and storage of foreign liquor. He contends that, owing to their expertise and experience in handling computer-related and other tasks in private warehouses, the petitioners were absorbed by the Corporation through Webel Support Multipurpose Service Cooperative Society Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "the Society"). He further submits that the State of West Bengal decided to extend the benefits under the notifications dated 16.10.2020 and 17.04.2023 to the IT-personnels engaged on contractual basis. However, these benefits have not been extended to the individuals currently employed as Floor Assistant-cum-Data Entry Operators on a contractual basis, on the ground that most of them are not graduates and lack the prescribed technical qualifications. He draws my attention to a document detailing the particulars of the personnel deployed in the Corporation (Annexure-R5 to the report filed by the respondent no.2), including the petitioners and points out that all the writ petitioners are graduates and hold 5 diplomas in computer applications. He submits that there is no impediment to extending the benefits to the petitioners. In rebuttal, Mr. Roy Mukherjee, learned Advocate representing the State, drawing my attention to Clause 8 of the Memorandum dated 22nd July 2013, submits that the selection of manpower was required to be conducted by a Selection Committee comprising at least three officers, including representatives from the NIC/IT Department and the concerned Department. Mr. Roy Mukherjee further submits that the writ petitioners were not engaged through any selection process conducted by the said Selection Committee. He contends that, since the State introduced an e- Governance project, the petitioners were engaged as Floor Assistant-cum-Data Entry Operators, not as Software IT personnel. Therefore, the benefits extended to Software IT personnel are not applicable to the petitioners, whose designation remains Floor Assistant- cum-Data Entry Operator. He submits that the Software IT personnel appointed on a temporary basis under the e- Governance Project were paid a remuneration of Rs. 11,000 per month, whereas the present petitioners are currently drawing a basic pay of Rs. 12,825. Therefore, the petitioners cannot be equated with the Software IT personnel engaged under the e-Governance Project. He further submits that the nature of the petitioners’ duties 6 is entirely different from that of the Software IT personnel, and the communication dated 19th September 2022 from the Deputy Secretary, Technical Department, addressed to the Managing Director of the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Limited, cannot be regarded as the final decision of the State. Heard the learned Advocates appearing for the respective parties and perused the materials on record. Undoubtedly, the Data Entry Operators (DTEs), including the petitioners, who were previously engaged in privately owned warehouses and at the business premises of liquor or Excise wholesalers, were absorbed into the Corporation through the Society, following a selection process. although consisting of an interview only. The posts to which the petitioners, along with other DTEs, were appointed on a contractual basis were designated as ‘Floor Assistant-cum-Data Entry Operators’. As noted previously, the notification dated 16.10.2020 stipulates that contractually engaged IT personnel shall be granted security of engagement up to the age of 60 years and shall not be terminated except on the grounds specified in Notification No. 90008-F(P) dated 11.09.2011. Further, under Notification No. 1875-F(P2) dated 17.04.2023, the Finance Department, Government of West Bengal, enhanced the professional fees/remuneration of Data Entry Operators. 7 The communication dated 19.09.2022, issued by the Deputy Secretary (Technical) to the Government of West Bengal, addressed to the Managing Director of the Corporation, noted that the requisite qualification for Data Entry Operators, as outlined in the Memorandum dated 22.07.2013, was ‘Graduate with a Certificate in Computer Applications’. However, since most of the DTEs engaged in the Corporation were found to be undergraduates without any technical qualification, the petitioners’ request for extension of the benefits under the notification dated 16.10.2020 was refused. It is well settled that the validity of an order must be assessed solely on the reasons stated therein. An order cannot be sustained on the basis of grounds or justifications that are not reflected in the order itself. (See Mohinder Singh Gill & Anr. v. Chief Election Commissioner, New Delhi & Ors., (1978) 1 SCC 405). Mr. Roy Mukherjee, perhaps in an attempt to establish a reasonable classification based on intelligible differentia, highlights certain distinctions between the Data Entry Operators engaged on a contractual basis as Floor Assistant-cum-DTEs in the Corporation and the Software IT personnel appointed under the e-Governance Project in various State establishments. However, it is evident that the benefits under the notification dated 16.10.2020 have been denied to the Floor Assistant-cum-DTEs solely on the 8 ground that most of them are non-graduates and lack the requisite technical qualifications. Since the present writ petition does not raise that issue, I am not inclined to delve into the question of whether the distinctions pointed out by Mr. Roy Mukherjee can serve as a valid justification for such classification. Mr. Basu has categorically submitted that all the petitioners are graduates and hold diplomas in computer applications. In common parlance, a diploma in computer applications is considered to be of a higher qualification than a certificate in computer applications. Therefore, I find no justification for denying the benefits under the notification dated 16th October 2020 and the notification dated 17th April 2023 to those Floor Assistant-cum-Data Entry Operators who are graduates and possess the requisite technical qualifications. If the petitioners are indeed graduates and hold diplomas in computer applications, they are equally entitled to the benefits extended under the said notifications. In view of the above, the writ petition is disposed of, directing respondent no. 3 to extend the benefits under the notifications dated 16th October 2020 and 17th April 2023 to the petitioners, subject to verification that they are graduates and possess the requisite technical qualifications, namely, diplomas or certificates in computer applications. 9 With these observations and order, this writ petition is, thus, disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs. (Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, J.)