Preetam Banerjee 06 July 2026

Wbpsc appointment and cancellation / expire of panel

I was selected for the post of Junior Engineer (Civil) under WBPSC Advertisement No. 09/2022. The final result was declared on 25 June 2025. I completed document verification and submitted the Police Verification Roll (PVR) in August 2025. My appointment process was pending because the Police Verification Report was not forwarded to the department due to a pending criminal case arising from a family dispute. The department's procedure is PVR → Medical Examination → Appointment Letter. Since the PVR never reached the department, my medical examination and appointment were not processed. I have now learned that the WBPSC panel has expired after one year. Can my candidature still be treated as alive, or has it lapsed automatically?

Reply Follow

Quick Summary

If your WBPSC appointment process was delayed due to pending Police Verification Roll (PVR) and the selection panel has now expired, your candidature may not have automatically lapsed. While panels typically last a year, this usually applies to waitlisted candidates. Your vested rights as a selected candidate might still be protected, especially if the delay was due to administrative reasons or a family dispute. Consider using the RTI Act to gather information and submitting a representation to the department. If necessary, you may need to file a Writ Petition with the Calcutta High Court to protect your selection.

5 Replies

P. Venu (Advocate) 06 July 2026

You may seek the relevant information under the Right to Information Act.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate) 06 July 2026

Your candidature does not automatically lapse under these circumstances, and you have strong grounds to treat your selection as legally alive.

While public service select panels (including those of the WBPSC) generally carry a structural life of one year, the expiration rule applies primarily to the utilisation of the panel for filling vacancies from waitlisted candidates or subsequent intakes. It does not mechanically strip away the vested rights of a successfully empanelled candidate whose formal appointment was stalled due to administrative delay or an ongoing verification process.

If the department fails to act or cites the panel's expiry to deny your appointment, your most effective recourse is to file a Writ Petition (Writ of Mandamus) under Article 226 before the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court. Courts routinely protect candidates in these scenarios, directing authorities to keep a post vacant or issue provisional appointments when the underlying issue is a non-work-related family dispute.

Advocate M.Bhadra 07 July 2026

Obtain information under the RTI Act regarding:
- whether the PVR was received;
- why it was not forwarded;
- whether the department ever rejected his candidature;
- whether any vacancy against his selection still exists.
Submit a detailed representation to:
- the appointing department,
- the concerned authority,
  requesting a speaking order regarding his candidature.
If no decision is taken or appointment is refused solely because "the panel expired", file a Writ Petition under Article 226 before the Calcutta High Court seeking:
- a direction to decide his candidature;
- quashing of any decision treating the candidature as lapsed merely because of expiry of the panel;
- consequential appointment if found otherwise eligible.