The Calcutta High Court has held that reopening an application portal to allow candidates to correct or modify their particulars does not permit fresh applications after the prescribed recruitment deadline has expired.

Justice Rishad Medora dismissed a writ petition filed by a TET-qualified OBC candidate seeking permission to apply for the recruitment of 13,421 Assistant Teachers in West Bengal primary schools, holding that the Board's October 14, 2026 notification only permitted candidates who had already submitted applications to rectify their particulars and did not reopen the recruitment process for fresh applicants.

The Court held that the petitioner could not claim any legal right to submit an application at that stage, particularly when the prescribed application period had already expired.

The Court further held that a subsequent notification issued by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education on October 14, 2026, did not permit fresh applications but only allowed candidates who had already applied to correct or rectify their application particulars.

The petitioner, Sambhu Charan Bera, approached the High Court seeking permission to apply for the recruitment of Assistant Teachers in primary schools pursuant to notifications issued by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education on September 25, 2025 and November 19, 2025. He sought access to the online application portal or, alternatively, permission to submit his application physically.

Appearing for the petitioner, counsel submitted that Bera was an Indian citizen belonging to the OBC category and had qualified the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) conducted on December 11, 2022, the results of which were declared on November 10, 2023.

The Board had invited applications for 13,421 vacant posts of Assistant Teachers in Government Aided Primary, Government Sponsored Primary and Junior Basic Schools across West Bengal. The online application window remained open from 3 PM on November 19, 2025, until 11:59 PM on December 9, 2025.

The petitioner claimed that the recruitment notification had been published only online and, since he resided in a rural village in Purba Medinipur, he had not come across it during the application period. He submitted that he came to know about the recruitment only on October 27, 2026, after the deadline had expired.

Relying on the Board's notification dated October 14, 2026, the petitioner argued that the recruitment process was still underway, as the notification contemplated subsequent counselling and document verification. He also pointed out that the application portal had been reopened to allow candidates to modify their particulars until October 31, 2026.

Opposing the plea, the Board submitted that the recruitment notification had also been published in several newspapers and not merely on its website. It handed over newspaper publications before the Court to substantiate its submission.

The Board further contended that the October 14 notification only permitted candidates who had already applied under the OBC-A and OBC-B categories to update or modify their categories. It did not reopen the application process or permit fresh applications. Allowing the petitioner to apply at this stage would also open the floodgates for similar claims, the Board argued.

Accepting the Board's submissions, the Court held that the newspaper publications established that the recruitment notification had been brought to the knowledge of the public at large.

"In view of the aforesaid publications in newspapers, the petitioner is deemed to have had knowledge and notice of the fact that applications had been invited by the concerned respondents," the Court observed.

The Court also found that the petitioner had failed to establish any procedural lapse on the part of the respondents in the recruitment process.

Holding that the petitioner had no legal right to submit an application after the prescribed deadline, the Court dismissed the writ petition.

Case Title: Sambhu Charan Bera v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Case Number: WPA 31497 of 2026