Goutam Dekaraja and 11 Ors v. The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd and 5 Ors

ORDER

24.05.2023 Heard Ms. B. Bhuyan, learned senior counsel assisted by Ms. B. Bora, learned counsel appearing for the writ petitioners. Also heard Mr. S. P. Sharma, learned Standing Counsel, APDCL appearing for the respondents. The petitioners herein are working as Sahayak/Meter Readers under the Hojai Electrical Sub-Division of the APDCL. Aggrieved by the fact that their services have not been regularised till today, the instant writ petition has been filed. By referring to the judgment and order dated 23.02.2021 passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) No.1351/2020 Ms. B. Bhuyan, learned senior counsel for the petitioners submits that although her clients case would not come within the Page No.# 5/6 purview of the aforesaid judgment, in so far as the relief granted in respect of Sahayak/Meter Readers who have completed more than 10 years of continuous service is concerned, yet, in view of the observation made in paragraph 11 of the judgment requiring the respondent authorities to also consider the case of those Sahayak/Meter Readers who have not completed 10 years of continuous service so as to find out a suitable economic package for them, this writ petition can be disposed of by directing the respondent authorities to bestow appropriate consideration on the case of the writ petitioners as well. Responding to the above, Mr. Sharma, learned Standing Counsel, APDCL submits that the writ petitioners herein are not eligible for consideration even as per the observations made in paragraph 11 of the aforesaid judgment. Be that as it may, in paragraph 11 of the judgment and order dated 23.02.2021 the learned Single Judge has made the following observation :- "11. As regards any of the petitioners who may not have satisfied the requirement of having worked continuously for 10 years, we request the respondent APDCL to also consider their case and find out a suitable economic package for them as per the acceptability of the respondent APDCL. Ordered accordingly."

The above observation clearly goes to show that the respondents have been asked to suitably consider the cases of those Sahayak/Meter Readers who are not able to satisfy the requirement of having worked continuously for 10 years, for extending a suitable economic package to them. On such consideration, whether the petitioners or any of them would be entitled to any relief, is a matter of factual verification, which would depend on the representation and Page No.# 6/6 the documents furnished by the petitioners. However, what is apparent is that even if the petitioners have not satisfied the requirement of continuous service of 10 years, even then, their case would deserve some consideration by the APDCL authorities albeit, not on equal footing with those who have completed 10 years of continuous service. In view of the above, without expressing any opinion on the merit of the claims made in the writ petition, this petition is disposed of with a direction upon the respondent authorities to consider the case of the petitioners in the light of the observation made in paragraph 11 of the judgment and order dated

23.02.2021 as quoted above. Facilitating the above, the petitioners to submit proper representations along with supporting documents before the respondent No.3 within a period of four weeks from today, by enclosing a certified copy of this order. If such a representation is filed, as directed above, the respondents will examine the case of the petitioners in the light of the observation made in paragraph 11 of the judgment and order dated

23.02.2021 and dispose of the same by a reasoned order within a further period of three months thereafter. With the above observation, the writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010021832022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/848/2022o GOUTAMoDEKARAJAoANDo11oORS.o SONoOFoLATEoNANDARAMo DEKARAJAo R/OoAPDCLoOFFICEoCOLONY,oHOJAI,oP.O.oHOJAI,oDIST.oHOJAI,oASSAM,oPIN- 782435 2:oSRIoKISHOREoKR.oBORO oSONoOFoLATEoTOPESWARoBOROo HOJAIoELECTRICALoSUB-DIVISION oP.O.oHOJAI 3:oSRIoCHOITANYAoRAY oSONoOFoLATEoCHITTAoRANJANoRAY oR/OoVILL-oMATIKHOLAo P.O.oSINGARIoBASTI oHOJAIoELECTRICALoSUBoDIVISION 4:oSRIoJITENoSAINARY oSONoOFoLATEoBISHARAMoSAINARY o R/OoVILL-oHOJAIoDAKHINoBIDYANGAR oHOJAIoELECTRICALoSUBoDIVISION oP.O.oHOJAI 5:oSRIoJATINoDAS PageoNo.#o2/6 oSONoOFoJEEBANoDASo R/OoVILL-oDIMARUGURI oP.O.oDIMARUGURI oDIST.oNAGAON 6:oSRIoRINKUoBORAH oSONoOFoLATEoSUSHILoCH.oBORAHo HOJAIoELECTRICALoSUB-DIVISION oP.O.HOJAI 7:oSRIoMADHUoSUDHANoBHUYAN oSONoOFoLATEoBIRBALoBHUYANo R/OoVILL-oDAKHINoGOLAGHALIAoBASTI oP.O.oHOJAI 8:oSRIoMITHUNoDAS oSONoOFoLATEoMOHANLALoDASo R/OoVILL-oDANGARIBARIo P.O.oHOJAI oDIST.HOJAI 9:oSRIoHARERAMoSAHU oSONoOFoSIBAMONIoSAHU o R/OoVILL-oRAMPUR oP.O.oAMTOLA oP.S.oHOJAI oDIST.HOJAI 10:oSRIoRATANoCHANDA oSONoOFoROMANIoMOHANoCHANDRA oP.O.oTLEoBOSTI o DIST.oHOJAI PageoNo.#o3/6 11:oMD.oMOCKBULoHUSSAIN oSONoOFoLATEoMOHAMMEDoALI o R/OoPACHINoNILBAGAN oP.O.oNILBAGAN oDIST.HOJAI 12:oSRIoDULANoDAS oSONoOFoCHUNILALoDASo R/OoSILIGURIoBASTI oP.O.oSILIGURIoBASTI oDIST.NAGAON oASSAo VERSUSo THEoASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLTDoANDo5oORS.o REP.oBYoITSoCHAIRMAN,oBIJULEEoBHAWAN,oPALTANBAZAR,oGUWAHATI,o ASSAM,oPIN-781001 2:THEoCHAIRMAN oSELECTIONoCOMMITTEEo-B oAPDCL/AEGCL/APGCL oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oPALTANoBAZAR oGUWAHATI oPIN-781001. 3:THEoCHIEFoGENERALoMANAGERo(HRA) oASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLTD.o(APDCL) oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oPALTANBAZAR oGUWAHATI oPIN-781001. 4:THEoASSISTANToGENERALoMANAGER oHOJAIoELECTRICALoDIVISION oAPDCLo(CAR) oHOJAI Page No.# 4/6 5:THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER NAGAON ELECTRICAL CIRCLE APDCL (CAR) NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782001. 6:SUB-DIVISIONAL ENGINEER HOJAI ELECTRICAL SUB-DIVISION APDCL HOJAI NAGAON ASSAM PIN-78200 Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. B BHUYAN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, APDCL BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM