Shahid Ali Mondal v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

JUDGMENT & ORDER (ORAL)

¶1Heard Mr. A. F. N. U. Mollah, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. P. N. Sarma, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent Nos. 1, 3, 4 & 5 and Mr. R. Borpujari, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 2.

¶2The case projected by the petitioner in a nutshell is that the petitioner has been serving as Had Master of Maslapara M.E. Madrassa under Bilasipara Elementary Education Block of Dhubri district since his appointment and joining on 01.01.2013. The respondent No. 4 vide order dated 01.03.2022 placed the petitioner under suspension on the basis of some allegation made by the SMC members and since then, almost 13 (thirteen) months have elapsed but till date neither any show cause notice Page No.# 3/4 is served upon the petitioner nor any review has been done for extension of the said suspension of the petitioner as required under the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Ajay Kumar Choudhury –vs-The Union of India & Ors reported in 2015 (7) SCC 291.

¶3It is also submitted that the petitioner has submitted a representation dated 20.10.2022 before the respondent No. 4 requesting to withdraw the aforesaid impugned suspension order dated 01.03.2022 but the respondent No. 4 has neither taken any positive action nor passed any reasoned order on the aforesaid representation. Accordingly, the petitioner has filed this writ petition before this court.

¶4This Court, upon filing of the instant writ petition, had issued notice on

09.06.2023 thereby directing the respondents to apprise this Court as regards the compliance to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Ajay Kumar Choudhury (supra).

¶5It is submitted by Mr. P. N. Sarma, learned counsel for the respondent, that though the allegations are serious in nature, neither any departmental proceeding has been initiated nor any review has been made.

¶6In the instant case, it would be seen that the Appointing Authority on

01.03.2022 issued the suspension order on the ground that the petitioner had misappropriated Govt. money by manipulating the signature of SMC Members. Three months have already elapsed from the date, the petitioner has been put under suspension, but till date admittedly, neither any Memorandum of charge/charge-sheet has been served upon the petitioner nor the order of suspension has been reviewed, and as such, by virtue of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in the case Ajay Kumar Page No.# 4/4 Choudhary vs. The Union of India, reported in (2015) 7 SCC 291, the further continuation of the suspension of the petitioner would in contravention to the law declared by the Supreme Court in the case Ajay Kumar Choudhary (supra).

¶7Considering the above, this Court, therefore, directs the respondent authorities to forthwith reinstate the petitioner upon a certified copy of the instant order being served upon them.

¶8It is also made clear that the respondent authorities would be at liberty to transfer the petitioner to any of its offices within the State so as to sever any local or personal contacts that the petitioner may have and which he may misuse for obstructing the investigation against him. Further, the Government is also given the liberty to prohibit the petitioner from contacting any person or handling records.

¶9With the above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010065752023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/1807/2023ooooooooo SHAHIDoALIoMONDALo S/O-oLATEoJOMSEDoALI,o VILL-oSALMARAoPT-VI,o P.O.-oCHOUDHURYoCHAR,o P.S.-oFAKIRGANJ,o DIST.-oDHUBRI,oASSAM,o PIN-o783349. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o EDUCATIONo(ELEMENTARY)oDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGHY-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEo(ESTT-A)oDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-19. 4:THEoDISTRICToELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oDHUBRI o(ASSAM) oPIN-o783301. 5:THEoBLOCKoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oBILASIPARA Page No.# 2/4 DHUBRI (ASSAM) PIN Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A F N U MOLLAH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU BEFORE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY For the Petitioner : Mr. A. F. N. U. Mollah, Adv. For the Respondents : Mr. P. N. Sarma, Adv. R.1, 3, 4 & 5, Mr. R. Borpujari, Adv. R.2. Date of Hearing : 14.06.2023 Date of Judgement : 14.06.2023