Prasenjit Roy and 5 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 29.01.2024

Heard Mr. D. A. Kaiyum, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. S. M. T. Chistie, learned standing counsel, Elementary Education Department, appearing on behalf of Respondents No. 1, 2 3 & 4; and Mr. P. Nayak, learned standing counsel, Finance Department, appearing on behalf of Respondent No.

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¶2With the consent of the parties; this writ petition is taken-up for disposal at the motion stage itself.

¶3The petitioners in the present proceedings, are all working as Assistant Teachers(Arts) and Assistant Teachers(Science) in different High Schools in the District of Dhubri and were appointed by the School Managing Committees in their respective schools in such capacities when the said schools were in the venture stage. The cases of the serving teachers of the schools wherein the petitioners were so working, was taken-up for consideration for provincialization of their services under the provisions of the Assam Venture Educational Institutions(Provincialization of Services) Act, 2011.

¶4The names of the petitioners were also placed along with other eligible teachers in their respective schools before the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) for scrutiny of their records.

¶5It is the contention of the petitioners that the names of the petitioners were not recommended by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) while the names of other serving teachers in their respective schools came to be so recommended. The other eligible teachers recommended by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) came to be provincialized in their services w.e.f. 01.11.2013. However, the petitioners although being similarly placed, were not extended with such benefits. After enactment of the Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teacher and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, the cases of the Page No.# 5/7 petitioners were again placed before the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee (DLSC) for scrutiny and verification.

¶6It is the projected case of the petitioners that their names were now recommended by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) and forwarded to the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, for placing such recommendations before the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC). It is the contention of the petitioners that the recommendations as available in their favour by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee (DLSC), cannot be kept pending and must be so placed before the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) at the earliest to facilitate the petitioners' cases to be so evaluated for provincialization of their services. However, the delay occasioning in the matter has caused prejudice to the petitioners herein.

¶7As projected in the writ petition, it is seen that the names of the petitioners were recommended by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) under the provisions of the Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teacher and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, and it is not clear as to whether such recommendations have been placed for consideration of the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) under the provisions of Section 13 of the Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teacher and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017. The recommendations as made in favour of the petitioners by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC) has naturally given rise to a legal right to the petitioners to have their cases further considered in terms of the provisions of the said Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teacher Page No.# 6/7 and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, by the State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) for provincialization of their services and such legal right as accruing to the petitioners cannot be denied to them.

¶8In view of the said position and there being no clarity as to how the case of the petitioners were considered after their names were so recommended by the jurisdictional District Level Scrutiny Committee(DLSC); this Court hereby directs the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, to place the cases of the petitioners before the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) for further evaluation.

¶9The State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) on receipt of the proposal in respect of each of the petitioners from the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, shall consider such proposal strictly in accordance with the provisions of Section 13(11) of the Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teacher and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, and upon such verification as called for; make its separate recommendations in respect of each of the petitioners.

¶10The recommendations that would be made by the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) in respect of each of the petitioners shall be communicated to them by the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, in the form of a speaking order. In the event, the State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) recommends for provincialization of the services of the petitioners, the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, shall carry out the further requisite Page No.# 7/7 steps for effecting the provincialization of the services of the petitioners in terms of the recommendations made in this connection by the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC).

¶11The Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, on receipt of a certified copy of this order, shall process and place the individual cases of the petitioners before the State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) within a period of 1(one) month thereof.

¶12The State Level Scrutiny Committee(SLSC) shall thereafter complete and make its recommendations with regard to each of the petitioners herein separately within a period of 3(three) months from the date of receipt of the proposal in this connection from the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam. Thereafter, the Director, Secondary Education Department, Assam, on receipt of the recommendations of the State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC), shall communicate the same to the petitioners individually in the form of a speaking order within a period of 1(one) month thereof.

¶13With the above directions, this writ petition stands disposed of at the motion stage itself.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010012022024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/399/2024o PRASENJIToROYoANDo5oORSo ASSISTANToTEACHERo(ARTS),o FUTKIBARIoHIGHoSCHOOL,o S/O-oLATEoPRABHAToCHANDRAoROY,o VILLAGE-oGAURANTARIoPART-II,o P.O.-oFUTKIBARI,o DISTRICT-oDHUBRI,oASSAM. 2:oLUTFARoRAHMANoMOLLAH oASSISTANToTEACHERo(ARTS) o HOSSAINoMOHAMMODIoHIGHoSCHOOL o S/O-oMOTIURoRAHMANoMOLLAH o VILLAGEoANDoP.O.-oASHARIKANDI o DISTRICT-oDHUBRI oASSAM. 3:oALAUDDINoMOLLAH oASSISTANToTEACHERo(SCIENCE) o HOSSAINoMOHAMMODIoHIGHoSCHOOL o S/O-oABDULoMOTLEBoHUSSAINoMOLLAH o VILLAGE-oLALMONIRoALGA o P.O.-oASHARIKANDI o DISTRICT-oDHUBRI oASSAM. PageoNo.#o2/7 4:oALIMoARDUSoRAHMAN oASSISTANToTEACHERo(ARTS) o BANGALIPARAoHIGHoSCHOOL o S/O-oLATEoSOFIORoRAHMAN o VILLAGE-oBANGALIPARAoPART-I o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oBILASIPARA o DISTRICT-oDHUBRI oASSAM. 5:oABDULoJALILoAHMED oASSISTANToTEACHERo(SCIENCE) o BANGALIPARAoHIGHoSCHOOL o S/O-oABDULoGAFURoAHMED o VILLAGE-oBANGALIPARAoPART-II o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oBILASIPARA o DISTRICT-oDHUBRI oASSAM. 6:oABDULoGAFFUR oASSISTANToTEACHERo(SCIENCE) o RANGAMATIoHIGHoSCHOOL o S/O-oLATEoBILLALoHUSSAIN o VILLAGE-oBANGALDOBA o P.O.-oNAYEKGAON o DISTRICT-oKOKRAJHARo(BTR) oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o DEPARTMENToOFoSCHOOLoEDUCATIONo(SECONDARY),o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. Page No.# 3/7 2:THE DIRECTOR SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI- 781019. 3:THE STATE LEVEL SCRUTINY COMMITTEE REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN/ THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI- 781019. 4:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS DHUBRI DISTRICT CIRCLE DHUBRI P.O. AND DISTRICT- DHUBRI ASSAM PIN- 783301. 5:THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM FINANCE DEPARTMENT DISPUR GUWAHATI- 781006 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D A KAIYUM Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR