24-09-2026 Item No.2 Subrata Bhattacharyya AR(C) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side WPA No.20148 of 2026 Rituparna Choudhury -vs- The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Abhijit Mondal …for the petitioner Mr. Jyoti Prakash Chatterjee …for the University 1. None represents the State. 2. Learned counsel for the Burdwan University relies upon the instruction forwarded by the Secretary (Additional Charge), Faculty Council dated September 23, 2026 which mentions that the university has initiated the process of issuing second advertisement for filling up the vacant reserved seats in the Ph.D programme, 2025. The said process is currently under progress and steps are taken to ensure that reserved category candidates are reconsidered at least twice through re-advertisement thereby safeguarding the interest of the reserved category candidates so that no deserving reserved category candidate is left out during the admission procedure. 3. According to the petitioner, three months of the Ph.D course has already elapsed; and that any further delay in filling up the post will result in prejudice of the petitioner in getting a chance of admission in the seat that is vacant. 4. It appears that the petitioner did not get a chance to get admitted in the Ph.D course in the unreserved category. It is only if a reserved category seat is de-reserved, then only the petitioner will get a chance to be admitted. The university appears to have taken a long time to re-advertise the vacancy to afford opportunity to a deserving reserved category candidate. 5. Nevertheless, as the requirement of law is to publish the vacancy twice prior to de-reservation, accordingly, no relief can be granted to the petitioner immediately. 6. The university is directed to take steps to follow the law of de-reservation. The university shall keep in mind that the seat does not remain vacant and may be offered to a deserving candidate. 7. The writ petition is disposed of. 8. All parties are to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. 9. Certified server copy of this order, if applied for, shall be made available to the parties. [Amrita Sinha, J] 2 3