Ajit Dutta v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

21.03.2024 Heard Mr. P Mahanta, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. P N Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Elementary Education Department. By filing this writ petition, the petitioner has challenged the Order dated

02.02.2022 (Annexure-17) by which, the period of his suspension have been regularized for all purposes except for the penalty imposed upon him vide Order dated 06.02.2020 i.e., stoppage of annual increment with cumulative effect. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that although some enquiry was done, but the enquiry report was not furnished to him. The petitioner, however, managed to get a copy of the enquiry report and upon perusal of the same found that there was no finding or conclusion made against him. Despite the same, his annual increment has been stopped. Page No.# 3/4 Mr. P N Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Elementary Education Department submits that the entire period of suspension of the petitioner has already been regularized by the authority concerned but however, as the petitioner remained absent unauthorisedly and therefore, his annual increment was stopped. The Order dated 02.02.2022 therefore requires no interference. The enquiry report said to have been submitted by the enquiry officer is annexed as Annexure-10 in the writ petition. From a perusal of the same, what is seen to be recorded is that the Committee after careful observation of the available evidence related to the case found that the petitioner has remained suspended for 8 years 3 months and therefore, his reinstatement into service was recommended with the stoppage of one increment. The so called enquiry report can hardly be construed as an enquiry report to justify the penalty imposed since there is no specific finding arrived at by the enquiry officer or the enquiry committee. It merely states that since the petitioner has been suspended for a long period of time, he should be reinstated with a penalty of stoppage of one increment. The same in the considered view of this Court cannot be sustained and accordingly, the consequential order passed vide Order dated 06.02.2020 (Annexure-11) and the Order dated 02.02.2022 (Annexure-17) are hereby set aside. Page No.# 4/4 The respondents are directed to pass consequential orders to regularize the pay of the petitioner within one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. The writ petition accordingly stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010030722022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1371/2022o AJIToDUTTAo S/O-oLATEoHEMoCHANDRAoDUTTA,oR/O-oB.P.oCHALIHAoNAGAR,oSECTOR-2,o BYEoLANE-3,oP.O.oANDoDIST.oTINSUKIA,oASSAM,oPIN-o786125. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o EDUCATIONo(ELEMENTARY)oDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-19 oASSAM 3:DISTRICToELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oTINSUKIA oPARBOTIA oDIST.oTINSUKIA oASSAM-786125. 4:DEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oTINSUKIA oP.O.oTINSUKIA oASSAM oPIN-o786125. 5:ASSISTANToDIRECTOR oFOODoANDoCIVILoSUPPLIESoANDoCA oTINSUKIA oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 PIN- 786125. 6:ENQUIRY OFFICER CUM DEPUTY INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS TINSUKIA ASSAM PIN- 786125 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P MAHANTA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NELSON SAILO