Anupam Das and 3 Ors v. The Commissioner and Secretary to the Govt. of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 05.04.2024

Heard Mr. K. N. Choudhury, learned senior counsel, assisted by Mr. H. Das, learned counsel, appearing on behalf of the petitioners. Also heard Mr. D. Upamanyu, learned standing counsel, appearing on behalf of respondents No. 1, 2 & 3; and Mr. Parswajyoti Das Nair, learned standing counsel, Cotton Univeristy, appearing on behalf of respondents No. 4, 5 & 6.

The petitioners by way of instituting the present proceedings, have presented a challenge to the Advertisement, dated 11.03.2024, issued by the Cotton University inviting applications, amongst others, for 4(four) posts of Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology. The petitioners have also prayed for a direction to the respondent authorities to regularize their services as Assistant Professors in the said Department.

The petitioners, herein, were initially recruited as Academic counselors in the erstwhile Cotton College and thereafter, their services were continued as Assistant Professors on contractual basis in the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology in the said Cotton University on its establishment.

Page No.# 3/4 The services of the petitioners in the said Department of Computer Science & Information Technology came to be terminated w.e.f. 06.02.2020 on persons recruited on regular basis, joining the said Department as Assistant Professors.

The petitioners herein earlier approached this Court by instituting WP(c)9474/2019 and WP(c)938/2020, inter alia, praying for regularization of their services as Assistant Professors in the said Department. The said writ petitions are presently pending disposal before this Court.

In view of the fact that the petitioners, herein, are presently not serving in the Department concerned in the said University; it is the considered view of this Court that the petitioners, herein, are not entitled to challenge the Advertisement, dated 11.03.2024, to the extent of it putting up for recruitment of 4(four) posts of Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology of the said University.

Accordingly, while not interfering with the Advertisement, dated

11.03.2024, put to challenge by the petitioners in the present proceedings; it is observed that the University authorities shall be at liberty to take the recruitment process as initiated vide the said Advertisement, dated 11.03.2024, to its logical conclusion and make appointments thereon. However, the appointments made in pursuance of the said Advertisement, dated 11.03.2024, against the posts of Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Information Technology, would be subject to the outcome of the 2(two) writ Page No.# 4/4 petitions instituted by the petitioners being WP(c)9474/2019 and WP(c)938/2020.

With the above observations; this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010064082024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1903/2024o ANUPAMoDASoANDo3oORS.o S/O-oSRIoTRIDIPoRANJANoDAS,oR/O-oARYAoNAGAR,oP.O.oGOPINATHoNAGAR,o DIST.oKAMRUP,oASSAM,oPIN-o781016. 2:oSAMARJIToDASoS/O-oLATEoSARALoKUMARoDAS oR/O-oCHAPARIoP.O.oCHAPARoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-o783371. 3:oATOWARoUIoISLAMoS/O-oABDULoMOMINoSK. oR/O-oEIDGAHoPATHoHOUSEoNO.o12oP.O.oDISPURoSARUMOTORIA oDIST.oKAMRUPoASSAMoPIN-o781006. 4:oNABANITAoDASoD/O-oLATEoDIPAKoKR.oDASoR/O-oHOSUEoNO.o16o SARVODAYAoPATHoABCoDIST.oKAMRUPoASSAMoPIN-o781005o VERSUSo THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAMoANDo5o ORSo HIGHERoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-781019,oASSAM 2:THEoDEPUTYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHIGHERoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENToDISPURoGHY-781006. 3:THEoDIRECTORoHIGHERoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT oKAHILIPARAoPIN-o781019. 4:THEoVICE-CHANCELLORoCOTTONoUNIVERSITYoPANBAZARoGUWAHATI- 781001. 5:THEoREGISTRARoCOTTONoUNIVERSITYoPANBAZARoGHY-781001. 6:COTTONoUNIVERSITYoPANBAZARoGUWAHATI-781001 oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoREGISTRARo AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oKoNoCHOUDHURYo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oSC,oHIGHERoEDUoo Page No.# 2/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR