D/L- 39 30/07/2026 Ct. No.-10 Aritra In the High Court at Calcutta Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri Appellate Side WPA 1493 of 2026 Keka Banik Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Ms. Esha Acharya Ms. Ipsita Saha ….for the petitioner Mr. Samar Rakshit Ms. Manisha Dutta ….for the State Mr. Bikramaditya Ghosh ….for the respondent no.3 Mr. Sourav Ganguly Mr. Gopal Ray Ms. Rishita Chakraborty ….for the respondent nos.7 & 8 The petitioner is presently serving as an Assistant Teacher in Kharija Berubari BFP School under Sadar South Circle within the jurisdiction of District Primary School Council, Jalpaiguri. The petitioner praying for transfer to any school situated under the District Primary School Council, Jalpaiguri. The petitioner alleges that in spite of her best efforts she could not apply for transfer through Utsashree Portal. The learned advocate appearing for the petitioner places reliance upon a decision of the Hon’ble Division Bench dated July 13, 2026 in MAT 2381 of 2024 in the case of Priyanka Pradhan vs. The State of West 2 Bengal & Ors., wherein the Hon’ble Division Bench has taken note of the fact that the portal is under repair and not functional and accordingly permitted the petitioner therein to make application offline in terms of the Transfer Rules, 2015 and in the format prescribed thereunder. The learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has already applied for transfer by a letter dated June 19, 2026 in physical form. The learned advocate appearing for the District Primary School Council, Jalpaiguri submits that though the online portal (“Utsashree”) was temporarily suspended vide notification dated December 23, 2025 but the same has become functional with effect from July 1, 2026. From the notification dated June 30, 2026 it is evident that the online portal (“Utsashree”) was suspended from December 23, 2025 till June 30, 2026. Thus, it is evident from the notification dated June 30, 2026 that the online portal was not functional at that point of time when the petitioner submitted his application for transfer through offline mode. For such reason, this Court is of the considered view that there cannot be any impediment upon the 3 respondent authority to consider the offline application praying for transfer vide letter dated June 19, 2026. Accordingly, WPA 1493 of 2026 stands disposed of by directing the Chairman, District Primary School Council, Jalpaiguri being the respondent no.7 to consider the representation of the petitioner dated June 19, 2026 and to dispose of the same strictly in accordance with law after affording an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner and communicate the reasoned order to the petitioner immediately thereafter. The entire process shall be completed within a period of 4 weeks from the receipt of a server copy of this order together with a photocopy of the representation dated June 19, 2026. It is, however, made clear that this Court has not gone into the merits of the application for transfer and the said respondent shall be free to decide the same in accordance with law. There will be no order as to costs. All parties shall act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. (Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, J.)