Form No.J(2) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA CIRCUIT BENCH AT JALPAIGURI CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION APPELLATE SIDE Present : The Hon’ble Justice Raja Basu Chowdhury WPA 1356 of 2026 Anwar Hossain Versus The State of West Bengal & Ors. For the petitioner : Mr. Sudip Ghosh Choudhury Mr. Soumyajit Laskar For the State : Mr. Kunaljit Bhattacharjee, Ld. AGP Ms. Radhika Agarwal Ms. Somdutta Patra Heard on : 07.09.2026 Judgment on : 07.09.2026 Raja Basu Chowdhury, J (Oral): 1. Affidavit of service filed in Court is taken on record. 2. The instant writ petition has been filed, inter alia, challenging the order dated 4th June, 2026, passed by the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Jalpaiguri, whereby the petitioner‟s application for transfer made in terms of the West Bengal School Service Commission (General Transfer, Transfer on Special Ground and Reallocation) Rules, 2015 (hereinafter referred to as “2015 Rules”) which has since been amended vide memo dated 3rd January, 2022, has been rejected. 2 WPA 1356 of 2026 3. Learned advocate for the petitioner would submit that though the petitioner is a single subject teacher, there is no scope to reject such application on the ground noted in the order. He submits it is for the respondents to take urgent steps in a time bound manner to search for a teacher on the same subject from nearby schools and the willingness of the teacher from the nearby school is not a relevant criterion for consideration of the petitioner‟s application for transfer. According to him, the aforesaid issue has already been dealt with by the Hon‟ble Division Bench of this Court in the case of Rupak Dhua vs. The State of West Bengal in FMA 995 of 2025 in the judgment delivered on 31st July, 2025. 4. Mr. Bhattacharjee, learned advocate appears for the State. 5. Having heard the learned advocates appearing for the respective parties, I find that the petitioner had previously approached this Court by filing a writ petition, since the „Utsashree‟ portal was inoperational, which was registered as WPA 375 of 2026. By an order dated 17th March, 2026, this Hon‟ble Court taking note of the peculiar facts had directed the District Inspector of Schools (S.E), Jalpaiguri, to consider the petitioner‟s application for transfer filed in off-line mode and to make the petitioner aware of the fate of his application. 6. Records would reveal that the District Inspector of Schools (S.E), Jalpaiguri by order dated 4th June, 2026 which is impugned had observed that to effectuate the petitioner‟s transfer, the District Inspector of Schools (S.E), Jalpaiguri, had approached the nearby 3 WPA 1356 of 2026 schools to spare an assistant teacher of the concerned subject on limited days of the week on temporary basis till such time a permanent teacher on that subject joins vide office memo dated 27th April, 2026. However, since, none of the schools had consented to the same, by reasons of non-availability of temporary arrangement of teacher, the petitioner‟s application was turned down. 7. This Court finds that an identical issue had come up for consideration before the Hon‟ble Division Bench of this Court in the case of Rupak Dhua (supra). Challenging the non-consideration of the application for transfer, as the applicant was a single teacher of Mathematics under science group in a particular school, a writ petition was filed wherein on contested hearing, the same was disposed of by directing the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.) on receipt of the application to make an endeavour to find out willing teacher of neighboring school who can man the post of the petitioner temporarily till regular incumbent joins the post on transfer of the petitioner. It is further provided if the willing teacher is found and the concerned respondent finds the same to be a fit case in terms of the notification dated 3rd January, 2022, steps shall be taken by the respondents for transferring the petitioner from present school to another school. 8. Being aggrieved with the said direction, the petitioner in the cause had preferred an appeal. It was argued that there is no provision in the notification dated 3rd January, 2022 to invite any option or choice of any other teacher to volunteer in rendering service to a school 4 WPA 1356 of 2026 from which the appellant seeks transfer. Considering such submissions, the Hon‟ble Division Bench of this Court presided over by the Hon‟ble Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty was, inter alia, pleased to observe as follows: “The West Bengal School Service Commission (General Transfer, Transfer on Special Grounds and Reallocation) Rules, 2015 [hereinafter referred to as the 2015 Rules] were amended from time to time and the last amendment was effected vide memo dated 3rd January, 2022. The operative part of the said memo runs as follows: „In that event a single subject teacher makes application for transfer, the SMC will not reject the application and inform the DI (SE) about such application. The DI (SE) will immediately discuss the matter with the CSE in the DI (SE) will take urgent step in time bound manner to search for a teacher on the same subject from nearby and make local arrangement so that the teacher of the other school attends the school wherefrom the teachers has applied for transfer on days of the week on a temporary basis till such time a 5 WPA 1356 of 2026 permanent teachers subject joins. The DI (SE) will inform such arrangement to the CSE who shall inform the matter to the Chairman of WBCSSC, President of WBBSE and School Education Department, CSE will ensure such arrangement in 7 days immediately. The DI(SE) will communicate such arrangement to the school concerned and the HOI in question shall forward the application of the teacher to the DI(SE) will then forward the case to the WBCSSC for consideration, WBCSSC will suitably recommend the case for transfer to the WBBSE and the Board will issue transfer order accordingly. This remains in force until further order.‟ In the said notification there is no rider that the DI(SE) has to make any endeavour to find out any willing teacher of neighbouring school, who can man the post of the appellant temporarily till the regular incumbent joins the post. The term „willing‟ does not feature in the said notification. The competent authority took a conscious decision towards amendment of the 2015 Rules by the said notification dated 3rd January, 2022 without 6 WPA 1356 of 2026 including any rider to the effect that a single teacher can be transferred only after a willing candidate to man his/her post is found out by the DI(SE). On the contrary, the notification states that it would be an obligation on the part of the DI(SE) to take urgent steps in a time- bound manner to search for a teacher on the same subject from nearby schools and make local arrangement so that the teacher of the other school attends the school wherefrom the single teacher concerned has applied for transfer. The appellant‟s claim for transfer cannot be kept in abeyance till a willing teacher is found. In view thereof, the order impugned in the present appeal is modified to the effect that the DI(SE) shall act in strict consonance with the provisions of the said notification dated 3rd January, 2022 and the observations made in this order and take expeditious steps for filling up the resultant vacancy that may arise after the appellant is transferred. The entire exercise shall be completed by the DI(SE) being the respondent no.6 herein preferably within a period of three months from the date of communication of this order. With the above observations and directions, the appeal and the connected application are disposed of”. 7 WPA 1356 of 2026 9. In the light of the above, the aforesaid issue is no longer res integra. Notwithstanding the aforesaid, the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Jalpaiguri has purported to reject the application on the ground of non-availability of temporary arrangement of teacher. This Court does not appreciate the conduct of the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Jalpaiguri, in rejecting the application for transfer on the aforesaid ground, though the Hon‟ble Division Bench of this Court has already decided the issue. 10. In the peculiar facts, the order dated 4th June, 2026 is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Jalpaiguri, to act in strict consonance with the provisions of the said notification dated 3rd January, 2022 and the observations of the Hon‟ble Division Bench of this Court noted above and take expeditious steps for filling up the resultant vacancy that may arise after the petitioner is transferred. The entire exercise shall be completed by the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Jalpaiguri, being the respondent no.5 herein, preferably within a period of three months from the date of communication of this order. 11. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of. 12. Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be given to the parties upon compliance with the requisite formalities. (Raja Basu Chowdhury, J.) sb A.R. (Court)