Krishna Hazarika and 11 Ors v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 22.05.2023

Heard Mr. B.Purkayastha, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners. Mr. R. Borpujari, the learned Standing Counsel appears on behalf of the Finance Department, Mr. B.Talukdar, the learned Standing Counsel appears for the Page No.# 6/8 Elementary Education Department and Mrs. S. Barua, the learned counsel appears for the Director of Pension.

¶2In view of the fact that the issue involved in the instant writ petition is covered by a judgment of this Court in the case of Purnima Hore and Anr. Vs. The State of Assam reported in 2023 SCC Online Gau 1165, the instant writ petition is taken up for disposal at the motion stage itself.

¶3The petitioners herein claims to be Stipendiary Teachers who have been denied the benefit of the Old Pension Scheme under the Assam Service(Pension) Rules, 1969 (for short 'the Rules of 1969') on the ground that their regular scale of pay was given to them after 1/2/2005.

¶4This Court in the case of Purnima Hore(supra) held that the teachers who come within the fold of Stipendiary Teachers are entitled to the benefit under the Rules of 1969 and they are not covered under the New Defined Contributory Pension Scheme, 2009. It was also held that those teachers would also be entitled to subscribe to the GPF and would also be entitled to all other pensionary benefits to which a Govt. servant of corresponding rank is entitled to. This Court further finds it relevant to refer to paragraph 123(x) whereby a direction was issued to the respondent authorities to grant the benefit of pension in terms with the Rules of 1969 as well as allow such persons to subscribe to the fund in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Service) Rules,1937 after completing necessary verification in that regard. Sub-Paragraph

(x) of 123 of the judgment in the case of Purnima Hore(supra) is reproduced herein under : "123(x) This Court further is of the opinion that the persons similarly situated to that of the writ petitioners coming within the category of Stipendiary Teachers, but who have not been able to approach this Court on account of various reasons need Page No.# 7/8 not be deprived of the benefits of pension in terms with the Rules of 1969 as well as to subscribe to the fund in terms with General Provident Fund (Assam Service) Rules, 1937.

This

Court,

therefore,

directs

the respondent authorities to grant the benefits of pension in terms with the Rules of 1969 as well as to allow such persons to subscribe to the fund in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Service) Rules, 1937 after completing the necessary verification in that regard. The same may be done within a period of 6 (six) months from the date of the instant judgment."

¶5Taking into account the above, this Court also finds that the said judgment would be squarely applicable in the case of the petitioners, however subject to verifications.

¶6Accordingly, this Court disposes off the writ petition thereby directing the respondent authorities to verify the documents as regards the appointment of the petitioners as Stipendiary Teachers which has to be prior to 1/2/2005 and thereupon after making necessary verification and if it is found that the petitioners fall within the ambit of the Stipendiary Teachers and not granted the benefit of the pension under the Rules of 1969 on the ground that regular scale of pay was given to them after 1/2/2005, the petitioners should be granted the benefits of the pension in terms with the Rules of 1969 as well as also permit the petitioners to subscribe to the fund in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Service) Rules, 1937. The same may be done within a period of 4(four) months from the date a certified copy of the instant order alongwith the necessary documents evidencing that the petitioners are Stipendiary Teachers who were appointed prior to 1/2/2005 are submitted to the respondent No. 1.

¶7Before parting, this Court also finds it relevant to take note of the submission of Mr. R. Borpujari, the learned Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the Finance Department that while granting the benefits to the Page No.# 8/8 petitioners, if so entitled under the Rules of 1969, the amounts which have been paid by the Government in terms with the NDCPS, 2009 be deducted while granting the benefits. Accordingly, the respondent authorities while granting the benefits of the Old Pension Scheme to the petitioners upon being found entitled shall deduct the said amount so paid by the Government in terms with the NDCPS, 2009.

¶9With the above, the instant writ petition stands disposed off.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/8 GAHC010100842023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2766/2023o KRISHNAoHAZARIKAoANDo11oORSo S/O-oBHOLAoNATHoHAZARIKA,o ASSISTANToTEACHER,o BACHAGAONoGIRLSoLPoSCHOOL,o R/O-oVILL.oBORAGAON,o P.O.-oPANIGAON,oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR,o ASSAM,oPIN-o787052. 2:oATULoMEDHI oS/O-oKALAIoMEDHI o ASSISTANToTEACHERoOFo304oNO.oBISHNUPURoLPoSCHOOL o R/O-oVILL.oPHULBARIoBLOCKoNO.2 o P.O.-oDOOLAHAT oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR o PIN-o787031. 3:oMINARAMoBORAH oS/O-oTULARAMoBORAH o o AMTOLAoMAJGAONoLPoSCHOOL o R/OoGOPALPURoAMTOLA o PO-oAMTOLA oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR o PageoNo.#o2/8 oPIN-o787052. 4:oDILIPoMEDHI oS/O-oGOPALoMEDHI o o NA-ALIoTELIAoPATHARoLPoSCHOOL o R/O-oNA-ALIoKHABOLI oMIRIoN.C. o MIRIGAON oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR o oPIN-o787052. 5:oKESHABoDAS oS/O-oGOPALoDAS o o NA-ALIoTALIAPATHARoLPoSCHOOL o R/OoNAoALI oKOIBATRAoGAON o PANIGAON oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR o oPIN-o787052. 6:oRATNAoBAHADURoCHETRY oS/O-oSHERoBAHADURoCHETRY o o PUB-AMTOLAoLPoSCHOOL oKUHIARoBARI o LAKHIMPUR oPIN-o787052. 7:oCHANDRAoDOLEY oD/O-oJIBANoPATIR PageoNo.#o3/8 o o KARBUNGoGAONoLPoSCHOOL o R/OoKBoROAD oBORDUBIoCHANONGoGAON o KUHIARBARI oPANIoGAON o DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR oPIN-o787052. 8:oDHANESHoPADUM oS/O-oBAKATAoPADUM o o PATHARICHUKoLPoSCHOOL o R/O-oDUGHARIA oKAMBONGoDAMBUKIALoN.C.oPANIGAON o DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR oPIN-o787052. 9:oMEGHNATHoPARAJULI oS/O-oPADMAoPRASADoPARAJULI o o RAMPURoRAJGARHoLPoSCHOOL o R/O-oDIJOOoCHAPARI o DIST.-oLAKHIMPUR oPIN-o787031. 10:oPRASANTAoBORAH oS/O-oTANKESWARoBORAH o o NO.o1oSOLMORIAoLPoSCHOOL PageoNo.#o4/8 o R/OoNH-15oBORGOYAoGENDHALI o AOHOMONIoMIRI oDIST.-oLAKHIMPUR o oPIN-o787052. 11:oNIRANJANoPEGU oS/O-oSARUoPEGU o o NA-DHALAoLPoSCHOOL o R/O-oRAJABURA oDAFALAKATAoN.C.oDISTRICT-oLAKHIMPUR o oPIN-o787052. 12:oLILAoKANTAoDUTTA oS/O-oGANGADHARoDUTTA o o BHARALUWAoLPoSCHOOL o R/OoKARIoGAON oDISTRICT-oLAKHIMPUR o oPIN-o787031o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,o DEPARTMENToOFoSCHOOLo(ELEMENTARY),o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-19. Page No.# 5/8 3:THE DISTRICT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER NORTH LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 4:THE DEPUTY INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS NORTH LAKHIMPUR DIST.- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 5:THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE ASSAM CIVIL SECRETARIAT DISPUR GUWAHATI PIN- 781006. 6:THE DIRECTOR OF PENSION HOUSEFED COMPLEX DISPUR GUWAHATI PIN- 781006 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A K DUTTA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH