Calcutta High Court: A Division bench comprising of Uday Kumar and Soumen Sen, JJ., set aside the order of rejection and directed the Commissioner of School Education to consider the petitioner’s transfer application based on existing norms, taking into account the interests of students and without the “out of 10%” limitation.
Brief Facts
In the instant matter, the present appeal arises from a judgment and order dated 30-01-2023. The petitioner, an Assistant Teacher at Churamon PC High School, Uttar Dinajpur, applied for a transfer through the Utsashree Portal on three occasions. Her applications were rejected on different grounds. The present appeal challenges the order of the Head of the Institution rejecting her transfer application on the ground of “out of 10 percent.”
Contentions
The petitioner referred to a relevant circular, Gazette Notification dated 03-01-2022 and contended that applications should be considered based on the rules existing at the time of application. On the other hand, the State and Central School Service Commission argued that the pupil-teacher ratio was crucial and that teachers did not have a vested right to claim transfer.
Moot Point
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Whether the rejection of the petitioner’s transfer application on the ground of “out of 10 percent” was justified?
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Whether the pupil-teacher ratio should be the paramount consideration for transfer decisions?
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Whether the Gazette Notification dated 03-01-2022, applies to the petitioner’s case?
Court’s Observation
The Court observed that the transfer applications made on medical and other grounds listed in Rule 4(a)-(d) of the Transfer Rules, 2015 could be considered without restrictions. However, there was no such provision for applications under Rule 4(e) of the same rules. It was noted that the gazette notification dated 03-01-2022, applied to schools with a sanctioned strength of 5 or fewer teachers, is not applicable in the present case, where the sanctioned teacher strength was 42.
The Court emphasized that the interest of students should be paramount in transfer decisions, considering the Pupil-Teacher Ratio. The Court observed that teachers’ eligibility criteria must also be considered, and the authority should make efforts to fill the vacancy within a reasonable time.
“…once a teacher fulfills the eligibility criteria, the authority must take steps to fill up the resultant vacancy as per the norms existing at the relevant point of time by way of local arrangement or by recruiting a permanent teacher for the said post within a reasonable time.”
The Court stressed that the application for transfer should be considered based on rules prevalent at the time of application and that the interest of students should be considered.
Court’s Verdict
The Court set aside the order of rejection and the issue was remanded to the Commissioner of School Education for consideration based on existing norms. The Commissioner was given six weeks to decide the matter and communicate the decision to both parties.
[Prapti Chakraborty v. State of W.B., 2023 SCC OnLine Cal 2403, order dated 10-08-2023]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
Mr. Biswarup Biswas, Counsel for the Appellant;
Mr. Biswabrata Basu Mallick, Counsel for the Respondent/State.