Jiten Bhuyan and 4 Ors v. The State of Assam and 2 Ors

O R D E R

11.11.2024

Heard Ms. A. Borah, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners and Mr. N. Upadhyay, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Irrigation Department.

¶2The petitioners herein have approached this Court seeking directions upon the respondents to consider the petitioners for promotion to the next higher posts.

¶3From the materials on record, it is seen that the services of Page No.# 3/5 the petitioners herein were regularized vide the order dated

06.10.2005 whereby the posts to which the petitioners were regularized were personal to them and with the stipulation that such posts shall be abolished as soon as the incumbents relinquish their posts in any manner.

¶4Mr. N. Upadhyay, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Irrigation Department submitted that the issue involved in the instant proceedings is squarely settled by the judgment of the learned Division Bench of this Court in the case of Dilip Talukdar & Others vs. State of Assam & Others, reported in 2017

(2) GLT 135. This Court has duly takes note of the said judgment. Paragraph Nos.7 to 10 of the said judgment being relevant are reproduced herein under:- "7. In order to appreciate the contention raised by the writ petitioners, the learned Court dwelt on the backdrop to the policy decision of the Government to regularize the service of the WC/MR workers, in different works departments, who were in continuous service since before 1.4.1993. The circumstances leading to temporary creation of 5829 WC Grade-IV posts and 25069 Grade-IV posts w.e.f. 22.7.2005, for regularization of that many WC/MR workers, were considered. The Court also noted that the guideline issued by the Finance Department clearly stipulated that the posts were created as personal to the respective incumbent and will be abolished as soon as the concerned incumbent relinquish the post in Page No.# 4/5 any manner. Thus the temporary nature of the additional posts, was noted by the Court.

¶8The Court analyzed the concept of personal posts and noted that the regularization of service of the WC/MR workers, were not against any cadre posts of the department but the posts so created were to be treated as ex-cadre posts.

¶9As promotion to higher rank can be considered only from the feeder cadre and since the writ petitioners were not en-cadred in the feeder cadre, the learned Judge opined that they are disentitled to claim promotion to the higher cadre. The learned Judge found that regularization of the incumbents in the temporarily created personal posts, was accepted without protest, with the attendant terms and condition and therefore it was observed that the beneficiaries of the regularization order cannot turn around and assail the decision of the Government, which wanted to confer limited benefits, through the process of regularization.

¶10On the plea of discrimination vis-à-vis those already en-cadred in the feeder cadre, the Court held that the incumbents regularized against the posts created personal to them are on a different footing as their posts being temporary in nature were not added to the cadre strength in the department. Thus the plea of discrimination was negated visa-a-vis those who were working in the posts within the notified cadre, of the department."

¶5In view of the settled position of law as held by the learned Division Bench of this Court in the case of Dilip Talukdar (supra), Page No.# 5/5 the writ petition so filed is devoid of any merit for which the instant writ petition stands dismissed.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010065102021 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2663/2021o JITENoBHUYANoANDo4oORSo S/O-oLT.oMADANoBHUYAN,oR/O-oVILL-oBORPATHARoNO.2,oDHOLAIBIL,oP.S.o JAMUGURIHAT,oDIST.-oSONITPUR,oASSAM 2:oRANJIToBORA oS/O-oLT.oDEBENoBORA oR/O-oVILL-oKALITAGAON oP.O.oBIHORUGI oP.S.oTEZPUR oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAM 3:oGULAPoNATH oS/O-oLT.oBUDHIRAMoNATH oR/O-oVILL-oJAMIDARICHUK oP.O.oNANDIKESWAR oP.S.oJAMUGURIHAT oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAM 4:oDILIPoNATH oS/O-oLT.oLALIToNATH oR/O-oVILL-oCHAPARIPUKHURI oP.O.oRANGACHAKUA oP.S.oJAMUGURIHAT oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAM 5:oPADMAoKANTAoNATH oS/O-oRABINDRAoNATH oR/O-oVILL-oNANDIoKISHORE oP.O.oJAMUGURI oDIST.-oSONITPUR oASSAo Page No.# 2/5 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 2 ORS THROUGH- THE COMM. AND SECY., TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, IRRIGATION DEPTT., DISPUR, GHY-06 2:THE CHIEF ENGINEER IRRIGATION DEPTT. ASSAM CHANDMARI GHY-05 3:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER IRRIGATION DEPTT. ITAKHULA DIVISION IRRIGATION TEZPUR DIST.- SONITPUR ASSA For the petitioner (s) : Ms. A. Borah, Advocate For the respondent (s) : Mr. N. Upadhyay, SC, Irrigation BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH