Ranjoy Saha v. Govt of Assam and 9 Ors

ORDER Date : 29.11.2024

Heard Mr. C. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Ms. J. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. D. Upamanyu, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 1 and 2. Also heard Mr. P.J. Phukan, learned Senior Government Advocate for the respondent No. 3 and Mr. B. Goswami, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 4 and 5.

¶2The grievance of the petitioner, being sought to be addressed in this petition, is that he joined as Assistant Professor (Stage-I) in the Bengali Department of Nowgong Girls' College, Nagaon. He became eligible for consideration for promotion to the next higher stage i.e. Stage-II in view of the Office Memorandum No. AHE.162/2012/Pt./47, dated 13.11.2013. Thereafter, a Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting was held on 31.03.2014 and he was promoted to Stage-II. And after completion of another 5 years as Assistant Professor (Stage-II), the petitioner, in view of the Rule, became eligible to be considered for promotion to the next higher stage i.e. Assistant Professor (Stage-III). Thereafter, the petitioner had filed one representation for holding DPC for consideration of his case. But his case was not considered even after lapse of several years. As a result, the petitioner is at the verge of losing his seniority in service. In the meantime, the petitioner has completed 15 years of total service period and 3 years as Assistant Professor (Stage-III), for which he becomes eligible for promotion to Stage-IV of the post of Associate Professor, also and being deprived of his legitimate right of being considered for the promotion to the next higher stage, he has approached this Court, seeking Page No.# 4/5 redress of his grievance, as aforesaid.

¶3The respondents have filed their affidavit-in-opposition. The stand taken therein is that the petitioner did not submit his relevant papers along with his application for which his case could not be considered.

¶4Mr. Goswami, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 at the time of hearing, irrespective of the stand taken in their affidavit, submits that the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 are ready to consider the case of the petitioner and in order to consider his case, he has to submit all the relevant documents and that in the event of filing such an application, then respondent authorities shall consider the same within the stipulated period, if this Court is pleased to fix the same.

¶5At this stage, Mr. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submits that at the relevant time, the petitioner had submitted all the relevant documents with the application, but due to some dispute, with the then Principal, his case was not considered. However, Mr. Choudhury also submits that the petitioner is agreeable to the proposal of Mr. Goswami if his case is considered for promotion to the post of Assistant Professor (Stage-III) and thereafter, to the next higher stage i.e. Associate Professor (Stage-IV). Further, Mr. Choudhury submits that in the meantime, new Rule came into force and the case of the petitioner has to be considered as per the Rules prevalent at the relevant point of time.

¶6Mr. Goswami, learned counsel for the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 has agreed to the submission of Mr. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, that the same would be as per the Rules.

¶7In view of the submissions of learned Advocates of both the parties and as agreed upon, this Court is inclined to dispose of this writ petition by directing Page No.# 5/5 the respondent authorities, especially respondent Nos. 4 and 5 to consider the case of the petitioner for his promotion to Assistant Professor (Stage-III), in accordance with Rule prevalent at the relevant time, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order.

¶8Further, the petitioner is directed to submit all the relevant documents to the respondent No. 5 within a period of 10 days from today. After consideration of the promotion of the petitioner to Stage-III, if he is found suitable, and if he is entitled to promotion to the next higher stage, i.e. Stage-IV, the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 shall also consider the same in accordance with law. And preferably, the said exercise has to be carried out within a period of three months from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order.

¶9The petitioner shall obtain a certified copy of this order and produce the same before the respondent No. 5 and on receipt of the same, the respondent Nos. 4 and 5 shall carry out the exercise within the stipulated period as indicated above.

¶10In terms of above, the writ petition stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010075742023 ooooooo undefined ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2154/2023o RANJOYoSAHAo S/O-oLATEoPARITOSHoSAHA,oR/O-oTRKoROAD,oNAGAON,oP.OoANDoDIST-o NAGAON,oASSAM,oPIN-782001 VERSUSo GOVToOFoASSAMoANDo9oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oHIGHERoEDUCATIONo DEPARTMENTo oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTORoHIGHERoEDUCATION o oASSAMo oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-19 3:THEoGAUHATIoUNIVERSITY oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoREGISTRAR oGAUHATIoUNIVERSITY oGUWAHATI-781014 4:GOVERNINGoBODY oNOWGONGoGIRLSoCOLLEGE oNAGAON o REP.oBYoITSoPRESIDENTo oPIN-782002 5:THEoPRINCIPAL oNOWGONGoGIRLSoCOLLEGE oNAGAON Page No.# 2/5 PIN-782002 6:DR. SANJAY BHATTACHARJEE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR BENGALI DEPTT. GAUHATI UNIVERSITY JALUKBARI GUWAHATI PIN-781013 7:DR. SANJAY DE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SUBJECT TEACHER OF BENGALI DEPTT. NOWGONG COLLEGE NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782001 8:PROF. RITA KALITA EX VICE PRINCIPAL AND HOD OF STATISTICS NOWGONG GIRLS COLLEGE NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782002 9:DR. RITA RANI DEY ASSTT. PROFFESSOR BENGALI DEPARTMENT NOWGONG GIRLS COLLEGE NAGAON ASSAM PIN-782002 10:PROF KALPANA BHATTCHARYA VICE PRINCIPAL AND HOD OF STATISTICS NOWGONG GIRLS COLLEGE NAGAON ASSAM PIN-78200 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D K BAGCHI, MR. C CHOUDHURY,MS. M BARMAN Advocate for the Respondent : SC, HIGHER EDU, MR. R PHUKAN (r-6),MR. B GOSWAMI (R- 4,5),MR. R PHUKAN (R-7),MR. B ZAMAN (R-9),MR. B PURKAYASTHA(R-9),MR. A K DUTTA(R-9),MR. P KAKATI (R-4,5),MR. N BARUA (R-4,5),SC, G U Page No.# 3/5 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN