The Calcutta High Court has held that a notification reopening an online application portal to allow candidates to correct or modify their particulars does not operate as a reopening of the recruitment process for fresh applicants. Justice Rishad Medora delivered the judgment while dismissing a writ petition filed by Sambhu Charan Bera, a Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) qualified candidate belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, who sought permission to apply for the recruitment of 13,421 Assistant Teachers in West Bengal primary schools after the application deadline had expired.
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education had issued notifications on September 25, 2025 and November 19, 2025 inviting applications for the vacant posts. The online application window remained open from 3:00 PM on November 19, 2025 until 11:59 PM on December 9, 2025. The petitioner, a resident of a rural village in Purba Medinipur, claimed he did not come across the notification during the application period and only became aware of the recruitment on October 27, 2026. He relied on a subsequent notification dated October 14, 2026 which reopened the portal for candidates to modify their particulars until October 31, 2026, arguing that the recruitment process was still ongoing.
The Board opposed the plea, submitting that the October 14 notification was strictly confined to allowing candidates who had already applied under the OBC-A and OBC-B categories to update or modify their category particulars. It did not permit fresh applications. The Board further produced newspaper publications before the Court to demonstrate that the recruitment notification had been widely publicised and not merely hosted on its website.
Accepting the Board's submissions, the Court observed that the newspaper publications established that the recruitment notification had been brought to the knowledge of the public at large. Consequently, the petitioner was deemed to have had knowledge and notice of the invitation for applications. The Court found no procedural lapse on the part of the respondents in conducting the recruitment process.
Does a correction window notification extend the deadline for fresh applications in a recruitment process?
No. The Calcutta High Court held that a notification permitting existing applicants to rectify particulars does not reopen the recruitment process or confer a legal right on new candidates to submit applications after the prescribed deadline has expired.
Comparison of Key Dates and Notifications
Event | Date | Significance |
|---|---|---|
First Recruitment Notification | September 25, 2025 | Initial advertisement for 13,421 Assistant Teacher posts. |
Second Recruitment Notification | November 19, 2025 | Reiterated invitation for applications. |
Online Application Window | November 19, 2025 (3 PM) to December 9, 2025 (11:59 PM) | Prescribed period for submitting applications. |
Correction Window Notification | October 14, 2026 | Allowed existing OBC-A/OBC-B applicants to modify categories; portal open until October 31, 2026. |
Petitioner's Awareness | October 27, 2026 | Petitioner claimed knowledge of recruitment after application deadline and during correction window. |
The Court held that the petitioner could not claim any legal right to submit an application at a stage when the prescribed application period had already concluded. Allowing such a plea would open the floodgates for similar claims from other candidates who missed the deadline. Accordingly, the writ petition was dismissed. The case is cited as Sambhu Charan Bera v. The State of West Bengal & Ors., WPA 31497 of 2026.