Item No.17 31.08.2026 Court. No. 9 (Saswata) CALCUTTA HIGH COURT IN THE CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI APPELLATE JURISDICTION WPA 1792 of 2026 Kartick Das Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. With WPA 1420 of 2026 Kartick Das Vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Uday Shankar Chatterjee Mr. Pradip Chatterjee Mr. G.C.Ray Ms. Payel Chanda …for the Petitioner. Mr. Kunaljit Bhattacharjee, AGP Ms. Rajni Singh Dev …for the State Ms. Matan Chakraborty …For the respondent nos. 7, 8 . 1. Challenging the order dated 30th July 2026 passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Cooch Behar, cancelling the petitioner’s caste certificate issued in favour of the petitioner, the instant writ petition being WPA 1792 of 2026 has been filed. 2. The matter has a chequered history. Though the learned advocate appearing for the petitioner by placing before this Court the West Bengal Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Identification) Act, 1994 would submit that the Sub Divisional Officer has no jurisdiction to pass 2 such order, I, however, find that previously the petitioner had filed a writ petition challenging the show cause notice issued by the Sub Divisional Officer which was registered as WPA no. 1420 of 2026. The petitioner claims that the petitioner began his teaching career in the year 2002 as a faculty member of St. Joshep’s College, Darjeeling, and thereafter had joined the Mathabhanga College, Cooch Behar in a post reserved for SC candidates on the basis of scheduled caste certificate issued by the concerned authority of the Government of Assam. Subsequently, the petitioner had joined Samuktala Sidhu Kanhu College, Alipurduar on the basis of the scheduled caste certificate issued by the Government of Assam. Thereafter, the petitioner applied for the post of professor at Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University (hereinafter referred to as the said University), in the year 2017 and the said post was also reserved for the scheduled caste candidates. 3. It the petitioner’s claim that after due selection process, the petitioner was selected for the post of professor in the said University. However, at the time of joining in the said post, the University directed the petitioner to submit the scheduled caste certificate issued by the Government of West Bengal. Accordingly, the petitioner had applied for scheduled caste certificate before the concerned authority by submitting all requisite documents especially, the petitioner’s eligibility including 3 the scheduled caste status of the petitioner’s family and relatives. 4. According to the petitioner, after due verification the Sub Divisional Officer, Cooch Behar being the respondent no. 4 herein issued a scheduled caste certificate dated 31st May 2018 in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner submitted the scheduled caste certificate before the aforesaid University and after physical authentication thereof by the respondent no. 3 by communication dated 12th October 2018, the petitioner was confirmed in the said university and has been serving as a professor thereat. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, the respondent no. 3 all on a sudden had issued a show cause notice on 18th February 2025, inter alia, calling upon the petitioner to submit all related documents regarding re inspection of the caste certificate. By further notice dated 23rd March 2025, the date of hearing was fixed on 8th April 2026. Subsequently, two further show cause notices were issued on 5th May 2025 and on 10th June 2026 recording therein that since the petitioner did not file any response, the said show cause had been issued. Thereafter a further show cause dated 14th July 2025 was also issued. 5. It is in the peculiar facts that the petitioner, as advised, had filed another writ petition being WPA 1420 of 2026. The said writ petition is yet to be adjudicated on merits. 4 6. Though, in the present writ petition being WPA 1792 of 2026 the petitioner claims that such writ petition has been rendered infructuous by reason of the order dated 30th July 2026, whereby the petitioner’s caste certificate has been cancelled, I find from the records which have been produced before this Court that the petitioner had sought for an adjournment when the previous writ petition being WPA 1420 of 2026 was called on, as is recorded in the order dated 30th July 2026 passed in WPA 1420 of 2026. The present writ petition being WPA 1792 of 2026 has, however, been filed challenging the order dated 30th July 2026 passed by the Sub Divisional Officer, Cooch Behar. 7. Records reveal that prior to passing of this order though, show cause notices were issued on the petitioner, the petitioner chose not to respond to the show cause notices. The learned advocate appearing for the petitioner has placed before this Court West Bengal Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Identification) Act, 1994 to, inter alia, contend that it is only the committee constituted under Section 8A of the said Act who is competent to take a decision and as such, the respondent no. 4 was not competent to decide on the matter and cancel the caste certificate. 8. In the instant case, I find that the petitioner relies on the certificate issued by the respondent no. 4 itself to establish his scheduled caste status. 5 9. In WPA 1420 of 2026 the petitioner chose to challenge the authority of the respondent no. 4 to cause an enquiry by way of the show cause on the ground that the self same authority had previously caused the enquiry and had issued the certificate. No challenge was thrown to the authority of the respondent no. 4 to cause the enquiry as lacking in jurisdiction. In any event, the petitioner also did not file any response to the show cause notices nor did he raise the issue of jurisdiction. The petitioner, however, by placing strong reliance on the judgment delivered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Kumari Madhuri Patil and another versus Addl. Commissioner, Tribal Development and others reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241 would insist that the decision rendered by the respondent no. 4 is not sustainable. I find that in the instant case when the petitioner has not challenged the jurisdiction earlier, even in WPA 1420 of 2026 and when the said Act has been amended by West Bengal Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Identification) (Amendment) Act 2022, and Section 9A has been introduced providing that an opportunity to prefer an appeal from an order of cancellation or impounding or revoking the certificate under Section 9(1) of the said Act, at this stage without entering into the jurisdictional issue as raised, in my view, it shall be prudent for this Court to permit the writ petitioner to prefer an appeal 6 from the above order in accordance with law, if so advised. 10. It is made clear that if the appeal is filed, the petitioner shall be at liberty to raise all points including the point of jurisdiction. 11. If the appeal is filed within 15 days from the date of receipt of the server copy of the order, the same shall be decided by the appellate authority on merits having regard to the observations made hereinabove and as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of 15 (fifteen) working days from the date of filing of the appeal upon giving an opportunity of hearing to the petitioner. 12. It is made clear that any consequential decision taken by the any authority on the basis of the above order, shall abide by the result of the order to be passed by the appellate authority. 13. With the above observation, the writ petitions are disposed of. 14. There shall be no order as to costs. 15. The parties are to act on the basis of the server copy of this order. (RAJA BASU CHOWDHURY, J.)