Upakul Bordoloi and 5 Ors v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 29-02-2024 Heard Mr. T. Chakraborty, learned counsel for the writ petitioners. Also heard Mr. H.K. Das, learned standing counsel, GHC appearing for the respondent Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6. Mr. A. Chaliha, learned counsel has appeared for the respondent No. 4. None has appeared for the respondent No. 1. All these writ petitioners were engaged in the year 2019 as Gr-IV staff to render services in the newly established Judicial Guest House of the Gauhati High Court at Bokakhat. However, despite discharging their duties on regular basis, the petitioners were not paid any remuneration. Aggrieved thereby, they had approached this Court by filing the instant writ petition. It is submitted at the Bar that during the pendency of this writ petition, the respondents have granted the status of casual employees to the writ petitioners and accordingly, monthly remuneration of Rs. 9,000/- along with arrear dues from the date of their engagement has already been released in favour of the petitioner Nos. 1 and 3 to 6. Mr. Chakraborty submits that the petitioner Nos. 1 and 3 to 6 are getting their monthly remuneration on time. However, since the petitioner No. 2 had resigned from his post so Page No.# 4/5 as to join a Gr-IV post in the establishment of the District Judge, Golaghat, he was not paid his arrear dues for the period during which he had actually served as causal employee in the Judicial Guest House. Taking note of the aforesaid circumstances, by the order dated 22-01-2024, the learned standing counsel, GHC was requested by this Court to obtain specific instruction as to why, the arrear dues of the petitioner No. 2 have not been released till today. Today, when the matter was called up, Mr. H.K. Das submits that it is correct that the arrear dues of the petitioner No. 2 have not been released till today but no specific reason has been furnished to him by the respondents for not doing so. As noticed above, it is not in dispute that all petitioners were engaged on casual basis in the Judicial Guest House at Bokakhat. They were made to work without any remuneration which had prompted them to file the instant writ petition. During the pendency of this writ petition, the respondents have sanctioned casual pay to all the six writ petitioners w.e.f. the date of their engagement, along with arrear dues. There is also no dispute about the fact that the petitioners have rendered their services during the period claimed by them and the petitioner No. 2 had also worked as a casual employee in the said Guest House w.e.f. 01-02-2019 to 26-06-2022. If that be so, there cannot be any justifiable ground for the authorities to deny the arrear salary to the petitioner No. 2 for the period during which he had actually served in the Judicial Guest House. Since there is no other live issue surviving in this writ petition, this matter stands closed with a direction upon the respondents to take necessary steps for release of arrear dues of the petitioner No. 2, as per Govt. approval, for the period during which he had rendered services as Page No.# 5/5 casual employee. The aforesaid exercise be carried out and completed, as expeditiously as possible, but not later than 60 days from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Writ petition stands disposed of accordingly.

JUDGE GS Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010002082021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/373/2021o UPAKULoBORDOLOIoANDo5oORSo S/O-oSRIoGOJENoBORDOLOI,oR/O-oBOKAKHAT,oP.O.oANDoP.S.oBOKAKHAT,o DIST.-oGOLAGHAT,oASSAM,oPIN-o785621 2:oBALENoKALITA oS/O-oSRIoBANCHIToKALITA oR/O-oSEWJIPAR oBOKAKHAT oP.O.oANDoP.S.oBOKAKHAT oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785621 3:oKALYANoSHARMA oS/O-oSRIoDEBENoSHARMA oPERMANENToR/O-oVILL-oBALIJANoKATHoGAON oP.O.oCHETIAoGAON oP.S.oCHABUA oDIST.-oDIBRUGARH oASSAM oPIN-o786184 4:oSAMARJYOTIoBORI oS/O-oSRIoKANESWARoBORI oR/O-oVILL-oBORTIKAoGAON oP.O.oBONKUWAL oP.S.oKAMARGAON oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785619 5:oBIRENDRAoRAJAK oS/O-oLT.oDURGAoRAJAK oR/O-oVILL-oKOLAKHUAoGAON PageoNo.#o2/5 oP.O.oANDoP.S.oBOKAKHAT oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785612 6:oHEMANTAoDOLEY oS/O-oSRIoKEHURAMoDOLEY oR/O-oDHANSIRIMUKH oP.S.oBOKAKHAT oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-o78561o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oJUDICIALo DEPTT.oCUMoLEGALoREMEMBRANCER,oDISPUR,oGHY,oASSAM,oPIN-o781006 2:THEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURT oREP.oBYoTHEoREGISTRARoGENERAL oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-o781001 3:THEoREGISTRARoGENERAL oGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURT oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-o781001 4:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGHY oASSAM oPIN-o781006 5:THEoDISTRICToANDoSESSIONSoJUDGE oGOLAGHAT oP.O.oANDoP.S.oGOLAGHAT oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT oASSAM oPIN-o785621 6:THEoSUB-DIVISIONALoJUDICIALoMAGISTRATEo(M) oBOKAKHAT oDIST.-oGOLAGHAT Page No.# 3/5 ASSAM PIN- 78562 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR A D CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FINANCE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM