Babul Nath v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

03.05.2023 Heard Ms. S Doley, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. P K Bora, learned Standing counsel, Department of School (Elementary) Education, Assam for the respondent No. 1. Also heard Mr. G Bokalial, learned Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent No. 2 as well as Mr. S Bora, learned Standing counsel, BTC for the respondent Nos. 3 to 6.

¶2Father of the petitioner, Phanindra Nath, an Assistant Teacher of 707 Alengmari Lower Primary School in the district of Chirang, a provincialised elementary school of the State, died in harness on 28.04.2002.

¶3The petitioner on 05.10.2002 submitted an application for his compassionate appointment under the Die-in-Harness Scheme of the State.

¶4Though, earlier the case of the petitioner was placed before the District Scrutiny Committee (DSC) for compassionate appointment, District-Chirang, but his case was Page No.# 3/4 rejected by the concerned DSC on 04.09.2010 and 26.03.2013.

¶5Pursuant to the order of the Court dated 07.08.2009 passed in WP(C) No. 3200/2009, order dated 13.06.2012 passed in WP(C) No. 2443/2011 as well as order dated 09.12.2013 passed in WP(C) No. 7143/2013 that were preferred by the petitioner; the DSC for compassionate appointment, District-Chirang reconsidered the case of the petitioner for his compassionate appointment in its meeting held on 10.01.2014 and forwarded his case for compassionate appointment to the State Level Committee (SLC) for compassionate appointment.

¶6The SLC for compassionate appointment in its meeting held on 16.06.2016 rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground of lack of vacancy.

¶7Since June, 2016 as the case of the petitioner was not considered by the SLC for his compassionate appointment, the petitioner has preferred this writ petition.

¶8The recommendation of the DSC for compassionate appointment, District-Chirang dated 10.01.2014 is silent as to against which post, whether Grade-III or Grade-IV it considered and recommended the name of the petitioner.

¶9Further, the minutes of the SLC for compassionate appointment dated 16.06.2016 rejecting the case of the petitioner on the ground of lack of vacancy is also found to be silent as to against which post, whether Grade-III or Grade-IV post, the case of the petitioner was rejected due to lack of vacancy.

¶10Considering his age as 39 years in April, 2023 as per the affidavit annexed to this writ petition, the petitioner's birth year can be considered as 1984 and he applied for his compassionate appointment on 05.10.2002 when he was about 18 years and certainly he was not a graduate at that relevant time.

¶11The petitioner has also not annexed any certificate regarding his educational qualification nor stated against which post he applied for his compassionate appointment, whether Grade-III or Grade-IV.

¶12After hearing the learned counsels for the parties and considering the entire aspect of the matter, the decision of the SLC dated 16.06.2016 in regard to the case of the petitioner Page No.# 4/4 for compassionate appointment is hereby set aside and quashed.

¶13Petitioner shall submit the certified copy of this order and a copy of this writ petition including the annexures appended thereto, before the Secretary to the Government of Assam in the Department of School (Elementary) Education forthwith, i.e., on or before 20.05..2023, obtaining necessary acknowledgment from the said authority in that regard.

¶14In the event of receipt of certified copy of this order and the copy of this petition from the petitioner as directed above within the time so specified, the Secretary to the Government of Assam in the Department of School (Elementary) Education is directed to place the case of the petitioner before the next meeting of the SLC for compassionate appointment to consider his case for compassionate appointment against Grade-IV post in accordance with law in terms of the Office Memorandum No. ABP. 50/2006/Pt/182 dated

01.06.2015 and in terms of the directions of the Court issued earlier vide order dated

07.08.2009 passed in WP(C) No. 3200/2009, order dated 13.06.2012 passed in WP(C) No. 2443/2011 as well as order dated 09.12.2013 passed in WP(C) No. 7143/2013.

¶15Thereafter, the said SLC for compassionate appointment shall intimate the petitioner about the outcome of its consideration regarding his appointment on compassionate ground.

¶16With the above observation and direction, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010090522023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2333/2023o BABULoNATHo SONoOFoLATEoPHANINDRAoNATH,o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oSONAIKOLA,o P.O.-oSONAIKOLAo(BIJNI),o DIST.-oCHIRANG,oBTR,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o ASSAMoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6,o ASSAM. 2:THEoSTATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEEoFORoCOMPASSIONATEoAPPOINTMENT oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHAIRMANoCUMoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM o DISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoDISTRICToLEVELoSELECTIONoCOMMITTEEo(DLSC) oREPRESENTEDoBYoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oBTC o KOKRAJHAR oPIN-o783370 oASSAM. 4:THEoDIRECTORoOFoEDUCATION oBTC oKOKRAJHAR-o783370 Page No.# 2/4 ASSAM. 5:THE DEPUTY INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS BIJNI CHIRANG BTC ASSAM. 6:THE DISTRICT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER KAJALGAON CHIRANG BTC ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MS. S DOLEY Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK