The Calcutta High Court has recently dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed challenging a memorandum issued by West Bengal’s Higher Education Department on December 23, 2019.
The Petitioner alleged the memorandum contradicts University Grants Commission regulations notified on July 18, 2018.
During the hearing, the West Bengal College Service Commission’s advocate pointed out that an identical prayer was sought in another petition of 2022, which was withdrawn after the court considered submissions from both sides.
Considering the significant time elapsed since the memorandum’s issuance and the lack of affected parties impleaded as respondents, the court deemed it inappropriate to consider Bhattacharyya’s prayer.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Bivas Pattanayak delivered the verdict, emphasizing that the petition’s dismissal was also due to the petitioner’s failure to include potentially affected parties as respondents.