Suman Das v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 20/06/2023

Heard Mr. M. Khan, learned counsel for the writ petitioner. Also heard Mr. T.C. Chutia, learned Page No.# 3/4 Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing for the respondent nos. 1 to 6. None has appeared for the private respondent nos. 7 and 8. The case of the writ petitioner, briefly stated, as projected in the writ petition, is that while serving as the 2nd in Command (ASP rank) in the Assam Industrial Security Force (AISF), Bn. -II in Chabua, Dibrugarh, a show cause notice dated 06/03/2020 was issued to him bringing certain allegations against the petitioner. The show cause notice dated 06/03/2020 was ultimately taken forward and a departmental proceeding was initiated against him which culminated in the order dated 19/07/2022 issued by the Principal Secretary to the Government of Assam, Home and Political Department, exonerating the petitioner in respect of the charges leveled against him. The petitioner has approached this Court by contending that during the pendency of the departmental proceeding, persons junior to him, viz. Sri Abdul Hanif (Respondent no. 7) & Smt. Jonali Patgiri (respondent no. 8) have been promoted to the higher posts i.e. the posts equivalent to the rank of Superintendent of Police. However, the case of the petitioner was not considered in a 'sealed cover' thereby, resulting in serious prejudice to his interest. By contending that where departmental proceedings are pending against the Government servant, their cases for promotion are considered under the sealed cover, Mr. Khan submits that the authorities had not acted in accordance with the Government of Assam OM No. ABP 29/2006/38 dated 09/05/2006, which mandates that the case of the candidates coming within the zone of consideration for promotion must be kept in sealed cover during the pendency of the departmental proceeding. Mr. T.C. Chutia, learned Government Advocate, Assam, on the other hand, submits that no Officer junior to the petitioner has been promoted to a higher rank during the pendency of the departmental proceeding. Since the petitioner has now been exonerated of the charges brought against him by order dated 19/07/2022, his case for promotion to the next higher rank will be considered, in accordance with law, along with other departmental candidates coming within the zone Page No.# 4/4 of consideration. Therefore, no further order is required to be passed in this case. The fact that the petitioner has been exonerated in respect of all the charges leveled against him, is not in dispute. The only question is whether any person junior to the petitioner in the gradation list had been promoted to the higher rank during the pendency of the departmental proceeding. Although the petitioner's counsel has made assertion to that effect, there is nothing on record to substantiate the above claim. It is no doubt correct that the respondent nos. 7 & 8 are junior to the petitioner in the gradation list However, there is no documents placed on record by the petitioner to show that those two persons have been promoted to a higher rank during the pendency of the departmental proceeding, thereby, causing prejudice to the interest of the petitioner. As such, this writ petition stands disposed of by providing that the respondents may consider the case of the petitioner for promotion along with other departmental candidates, who come within the zone of consideration, in accordance with the Rules as and when vacancies arise in the higher posts. With the above observation, the writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010091682022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3239/2022o SUMANoDASo S/O.oLT.oSUKUMARoDAS,oVILL.oKAHILIPARA,oBHAGADATTAPURoROAD,o GUWAHATI-781019. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oHOMEo ANDoPOLITICALoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECY. oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHOMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoADDL.oSECRETARY oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHIMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 4:THEoJOINToSECRETARYoCUMoENQUIRYoOFFICER oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oHIMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPTT. oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 5:THEoDIRECTORoGENERALoOFoCIVILoDEFENCEoANDoCOMMANDANTo GENERALoOFoHOMEoGUARDS oASSAM Page No.# 2/4 BELTOLA GUWAHATI-28. 6:THE SENIOR STAFFS OFFICER HOME GUARDS (G) OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CIVIL DEFENCE AND COMMANDANT GENERAL OF HOME GUARDS ASSAM BELTOLA GUWAHATI-28. 7:ABDUL HANIF DIVISIONAL COMMANDANT HOME GUARDS HILLS DIVISION CACHAR SILCHAR ASSAM PIN-788818. 8:SMT. JONALI PATGIRI COMMANDANT ASSAM IMDUSTRIAL SECURITY FORCE (IN SHORT AISF) BN.I BAHABARI SONITPUR TEZPUR ASSAM PIN-784502 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M KHAN Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM