DPSC Does Not Exist? What Lawyers Say About the High Court Verdict on Teacher Transfers

Teacher Transfers: In a recent press interview, Advocate Firdous Samim has disclosed detailed information about a landmark judgment from the Calcutta High Court, which has caused a stir in the primary education system of West Bengal. According to him, the bench of the Hon’ble Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj has clearly stated in its verdict that no District Primary School Council (DPSC) in the state currently has any legal existence. As a result of this ruling, all primary teacher transfers in the state will be considered illegal, and the recruitment processes conducted since 2015 could also be questioned.

Case Background

Advocate Firdous Samim explained that the case originated from a transfer order for a teacher from Purba Medinipur, Nilanjana Maity. Initially, the Hon’ble Justice Biswajit Basu had put a stay on her transfer, which was later vacated. Subsequently, the DPSC secretary of Purba Medinipur issued a new transfer order, labeling her as a “surplus teacher.” This order was then challenged before the bench of the Hon’ble Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.

The Court’s Observation and Firdous Samim’s Analysis

Mr. Samim, shedding light on the court’s observations, stated that the DPSC is a 44-member body, which includes MLAs, members of the Zilla Parishad, members of the Panchayat Samiti, and municipal councillors. In his opinion, the current state government is making crucial decisions, like transfers, by merely appointing a chairman, rendering these democratic bodies defunct, which is not legally valid. He explained that according to the court’s ruling, only the DPSC as a body has the authority to approve transfers; its chairman does not have the right to make this decision unilaterally. Since there is currently no legally constituted DPSC in the state, all transfer orders are illegal.

The Lawyer’s Opinion on the Impact of the Verdict

According to Firdous Samim, the impact of this verdict could be far-reaching. He mentioned some potential consequences:

• All Transfers Illegal: All primary teacher transfers in the state will be considered illegal because no DPSC is currently constituted legally.
• Recruitment Process Questioned: All primary teacher recruitments since 2015, especially the recruitment of about 60-65 thousand teachers in 2016, could also be questioned as a result of this verdict.
• Illegal Appointment of Chairmen: Advocate Samim highlighted in the interview that, according to Section 37, the appointment of chairmen is being done without any official gazette notification, making their appointments and their activities as a DPSC illegal.
• Changes in Recruitment Rules: He also mentioned that while the 2001 recruitment rules designated the DPSC as the appointing authority, the 2016 rules transferred this power to the “Chairman DPSC,” which the court views as an attempt to bypass the original law.

This analysis by Advocate Firdous Samim has sent a major jolt through the state’s primary education system. It now remains to be seen how the state government will handle this legal challenge and what steps it will take to legitimize the teacher transfer and recruitment processes.