22-09-2026 Item No.20 Subrata Bhattacharyya AR(C) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side WPA No.12809 of 2026 Somnath Halder -vs- The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Sk. Sahjahan Ali Ms. Shreya Banerjee …for the petitioner Mr. Sahasrangshu Bhattacharjee, AGP Mr. Suchindram Bhattacharjee …for the State 1. The petitioner seeks higher scale of pay on enhancement of his educational qualification. His prayer stood rejected by the District Inspector of Schools (SE), Purba Bardhaman vide communicating order dated December 31, 2024 on the ground that the petitioner did not obtain any prior permission of the concerned DI of Schools. 2. G.O. No.593-SE (B) dated November 27, 2007 has been relied upon for rejecting the claim of the petitioner. The applicability of the aforesaid Government Order was considered by the Special Bench of this Court in the matter of Utpal Kanti Karan & Ors. –vs- State of West Bengal & Ors. reported in (2024) SCC OnLine Cal 1274 wherein the Court was pleased to set aside the said Government Order. 3. The petitioner submits that he obtained the prior permission of the school where he was teaching. 4. According to the DI of Schools, the resolution of the managing committee granting permission to the petitioner to enhance his educational qualification was not forwarded. 5. The managing committee forwarded the resolution to the ADI of Schools to accord prior permission to the petitioner vide communication dated December 8, 2009. 6. It appears that though the managing committee adopted the resolution according prior permission to the petitioner to enhance his education qualification but the same may not have been forwarded to the concerned District Inspector of Schools in proper time. 7. The alleged inaction on the part of the school to intimate the DI of Schools about the resolution in proper time cannot be taken as a plea to not allowing higher scale of pay to the petitioner for enhancing his educational qualification. 8. The Hon’ble Court in WPA 29958 of 2016 passed order on May 19, 2024 in the matter of Narayan Chandra Barai vs. State of West Bengal & Ors. and held that the obligation of a teacher comes to an end the moment the teacher applies before the managing committee of the school for obtaining prior permission for enhancement of the educational qualification. Thereafter, it is the obligation of the managing committee to forward such resolution to the concerned DI of Schools for obtaining prior permission. 9. Inaction on the part of the ADI to take steps in the matter at the proper time should not be a reason to disallow the prayer of the petitioner for grant of higher scale of pay. 10. In view of the above, the concerned DI of 2 Schools is directed to take necessary steps for grant of higher scale of pay to the petitioner in accordance with the relevant Rules and in line of the order passed in the matter of Narayan Chandra Barai (supra) at the earliest but positively within a period of eight weeks from the date of communication of this order. All consequential benefits shall be released to the petitioner without any delay. 11. The impugned order of rejection dated May 15, 2026, therefore, stands set aside. 12. All parties are to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this Court. 13. Certified copy of this order, if applied for, shall be made available to the parties. [Amrita Sinha, J] 3 4