A batch of aspiring primary school teachers in West Bengal, nearly derailed by the pandemic and a legal technicality, just got a second shot at their dreams—thanks to the Supreme Court stepping in to correct what it called a “rather extraordinary situation.”
These candidates were enrolled in the 2020–2022 Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) program, but due to COVID-19 delays, their course completion dragged past the usual June 30 finish line. By the time results were finally out on November 29, 2022, the first wave of recruitment notifications had already dropped back in September. This caused a storm of legal confusion.
The Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench ruled them ineligible, saying they missed the train by not being certified before the initial 29.09.2022 notice. But the top court wasn’t having it.
Citing its recent Constitution Bench decision in Tej Prakash Pathak v. Rajasthan High Court, the Supreme Court made it clear: if the recruitment rules don’t give a cut-off date, then the clock starts ticking from the date listed in the recruitment advertisement. And if the ad doesn’t spell it out either? Then the last date for receiving applications becomes the reference point.
In this case, that date was 21.10.2022, not September.
The judges saw no foul play—no attempt to sneak in underqualified candidates, no hidden tweaks to eligibility rules. Just a cohort of students caught in a global crisis, relying on a system that had already acknowledged their predicament. A single judge had earlier allowed them to apply, and the Board’s own 29.09.2022 notification even explicitly said they could.
But those who’d completed their courses earlier weren’t pleased. They challenged the inclusion of the delayed batch, prompting the Division Bench to flip the script and disqualify them. That reversal, the Supreme Court ruled, missed the mark.
Not only did the top court reinstate the applicants’ eligibility, it invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to make sure the recruitment process—already in motion—wouldn’t stall further. The direction? Let the process continue immediately and wrap it up swiftly.
There was one more twist: the recruitment notification dated 21.10.2022, the very heart of the eligibility dispute, had never been challenged by anyone in the first place.
So now, the Court has not just cleared the path for these candidates—it’s reminded the system that fairness doesn’t always come with a fixed deadline.
The appeals were allowed. The dreams stay alive.