Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has ruled that a college’s autonomy cannot be stretched to reject a candidate recommended by the West Bengal College Service Commission (WBCSC) on grounds of ideological disagreement.
The court directed Ramkrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, to issue an appointment letter to an English professor within four weeks, rejecting the governing body’s refusal citing his alleged social media posts.
Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee observed that while a governing body may, for valid reasons, decline a recommendation, “such reasons must be bona fide, free from arbitrariness and in the best interest of the institution”.
The college’s decision, the court held, did not meet these standards as the remarks attributed to the petitioner were never produced before the court and no complaint had been lodged against him. The petitioner, a Ph.D. holder with 17 years of teaching experience, had been recommended by the Commission in December 2023 after clearing the selection process. He had chosen the Narendrapur college during counselling and signed a declaration forfeiting his claim to any other vacancy. However, the college governing body refused to issue him an appointment letter, alleging his online views were inconsistent with the Mission’s principles.
The court underscored that the Ramakrishna Mission’s philosophy, founded on universal acceptance and interfaith harmony, cannot be “diminished merely because an individual has made certain comments on social media”. It further held that the college, being a government-aided institution, cannot impose conditions restricting recommendations to those aligned with its ideology.
The court recorded the petitioner’s assurance that he would not make public comments against the Mission’s philosophy, while clarifying that the governing body may initiate disciplinary action if his future conduct is detrimental to institutional interests. A request to stay the order was rejected.