Nikunja Gogoi v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER 09-08-2023

Heard Mr. A. Deka, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. G. Pegu, learned standing counsel, Elementary Education Department, for respondent Nos. 1 to 5 and Mr. G. Pegu, learned Government Advocate, appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 6. Notice on respondent No. 7 was deemed to be complete by order dated 16-12-2022. However, today also none appeared for the respondent No. 7. Santipur M.E. School was established on 01-01-1990 under Dhemaji Educational Block and was recognized by the Government by order dated 11-11-2005. The school was also captured under the DISE data with effect from 2009-2010 onwards. Page No.# 3/4 The petitioner was appointed against the second post of Assistant Teacher in the school by the Headmaster/Secretary of Santipur M.E. School on 12-02-1993. She joined the said post on the same day, i.e., 12-02-1993. The respondent No. 7 was also appointed as Assistant Teacher of the said school by the Headmaster/Secretary on 12-02-1993 to which post he also joined on the same date. In the meantime, the State Government enacted the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Teachers and Re-organization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017 (for short, 'Act of 2017'), and accordingly the process for provincialisation of services of the teaching and non-teaching staff of Santipur M.E. School started. The Headmaster of Santipur M.E. School made an application for provincialisation of services of teacher/tutor with regard to Santipur M.E. School on 05-06-2017 by giving details of the said school along with the particulars of the teachers of the said school. Therein, the respondent No. 7 is shown at Sl. No. 1 and his date of joining is reflected as 12-02-1993 and the name of the petitioner appears at Sl. No. 2 as Assistant Teacher and her date of joining is also indicated as 12-02-1993. The District Scrutiny Committee considered the matter and recommended the name of the respondent No. 7 along with two others for provincialisation of services. Thereafter, the State Level Scrutiny Committee considered the matter and accordingly provincialised the service of respondent No. 7. It is the grievance of the petitioner that the respondent No. 7, who was the Headmaster of the said school, was teaching all subjects and the petitioner was teaching Social Science as well as Language. However, the provincialisation of the service of the respondent No. 7 was done against the post of Social Science. During the pendency of this writ petition, the District Elementary Education Page No.# 4/4 Officer, Dhemaji addressed a communication dated 08-02-2022 to the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, District Scrutiny Committee, Dhemaji. The relevant portion of the said letter is reproduced herein below: "That Sir, total 3 numbers of teachers of the school have been sent to the DEE, Assam out of 5 numbers of teacher dated 10/05/2018. The name of Smti. Nikunja Gogoi has been left out from that list. But, it is seen that, Smti. Nijumja Gogoi was appointed as Asstt. Teacher on honorary basis of 12-02-1993 by the SMC of the school and Sri Sunil Borah was appointed as Asstt. Teacher on honorary basis on 06/11/1998 by the SMC of the school. The appointment date of Sri Sunil Borah has been over written/manipulated as on 06/11/1989 and managed to become Tutor of the School, which is reflected in the Proceeding Book of the School (dated-02/01/2001)."

Considering the communication dated 08-02-2022, this Court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner should file an appeal before the appropriate authority as provided under Section 14 of the Act of 2017. Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of directing the petitioner to file an appeal before the Director of Elementary Education within a period of 10 days from today. Thereafter, on receipt of the appeal, the Director, Elementary Education Department shall consider the appeal and dispose of the same by a speaking order, in accordance with law, within a period of three months from today, after giving personal hearing to the petitioner, the respondent No. 7 as well as one Sri Sunil Bora. The provincialisation of respondent No. 7 and Sri Sunil Bora shall be subject to the decision taken by the Director, Elementary Education Department. With the above observations and directions, this writ petition stands disposed of. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010089532021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3500/2021o NIKUNJAoGOGOIo W/OoSRIoPABITRAoBARMAN,oVILL.oSHANTIPUR,oKNOWARGAON,oP.O.o RAMAYAPUR,oP.S.oSILAPATHAR,oDIST.oDHEMAJI,oPINo787060,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFo ASSAM,oEDUCATIONo(ELEMENTARY)oDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATIo781006 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATIo781019 3:THEoDIST.oELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICERo(DEEO) oDHEMAJIoDIST. oPINo787060 4:THEoBLOCKoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oDHEMAJI oDIST.oDHEMAJI oPINo787060 5:THEoSTATEoLEVELoHIGHoPOWERoCOMMITTEE oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSENIORoMOSToSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oEDUCATIONoDEPTT. oGUWAHATI oPINo781006 Page No.# 2/4 6:THE DIST. SCRUTINY COMMITTEE REPRESENTED BY ITS CHAIRMAN CUM DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DHEMAJI DIST. PIN 787060 7:SURJYA KONWAR (HEADMASTER) SANTIPUR M.E. SCHOOL DHEMAJI P.O. ROMPYAPUR DHEMAJI ASSAM PIN 78706 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A DEKA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR