School Managing and Development Committee of Gashbari High School and Anr v. The State of Assam 3 Ors

ORDER 02-02-2023 Heard Mr. S. Hazarika, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. U. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Department of School (Secondary) Education for the respondent Nos. 1 to 3. Also heard Mr. B. Purkayastha, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4. On recommendation of the State Selection Board and on approval of the State Government in the Secondary Education Department vide letter No.ASE.611/2020/228 dated 15.02.2021 the Director of Secondary Education, Assam by an order under No.GB-EST/Apptt(HM & AHM)/18/2019/9 dated 11.05.2021 promoted the respondent No.4 to the post of regular Headmaster in the Scale of Pay of Rs.22,000/- to 97,000/- with Grade Pay of Rs.11,800/- in Pay Band-3 plus other allowances as admissible as per Rules against the existing vacant post of Headmaster of Gashbari High School (hereinafter referred to as the said High School) in the District of Kamrup. With regard to the promotion of the respondent No.4 to the post of Headmaster of said High School, the President of the School Management and Development Committee of said School and its in-charge Headmaster i.e., the present petitioners, filed a complaint against the respondent No.4 before the Director of Secondary Education, Assam on

21.06.2021. The respondent No.4 also filed an application before the Director of Secondary Education, Assam on 22.06.2021 stating that the present petitioners did not Page No.# 3/4 allow him to join as Headmaster of the said School. The petitioners preferred this writ petition challenging the order dated 11.05.2021 of the Director of Secondary Education, Assam promoting the respondent No.4, petitioner of WP(C) No. 6761/2021, as regular Headmaster of the said School and also prayed for a direction to the respondent authorities to make a detail independent enquiry with regard to the conduct and behavior of the respondent No.4 along with interim prayer to stay the said order dated 11.05.2021 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam promoting the respondent No.4 to the regular post of Headmaster of said Gashbari High School. The Court did not pass any interim order staying the operation of the order dated

11.05.2021 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam promoting the respondent No.4 to the post of Headmaster of said High School, nor restrained the said respondent No.4 from joining the said High School as its regular Headmaster inspite of the prayers made by the petitioners in the present writ petition. Earlier, the Court passed an order on 02.03.2022 directing the SMDC of said High School to ensure that the petitioner of WP(C) No. 6761/2021 i.e., Ashok Kumar Choudhury was given the charge of the Headmaster of the said High School in terms of the order of the Director of Secondary Education, Assam dated 11.05.2021 considering the fact that there is no interim order in force in the present proceeding, restraining the respondent No.4 i.e., Ashok Kr. Choudhury to join the post of regular Headmaster of said High School. During the deliberation of the matter, it is placed before the Court that the in-charge Headmaster of said Gashbari High School retired from service on 31.01.2023 on attaining the age of superannuation at 60 years. Further, the respondent No.4 i.e., Ashok Kumar Choudhury has now been handed over the charge of regular Headmaster of said High School in terms of the order dated 11.05.2021 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam. As the present petitioners restrained the respondent No.4 to serve as regular Page No.# 4/4 Headmaster of said High School pursuant to the order dated 11.05.2021 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam though he joined the said School on 30.06.2021, the said respondent could not function as a regular Headmaster of the said High School as no charge was handed over to him. Mr. Purkayastha, learned counsel for the respondent No.4 submitted that he has now been handed over the charge of regular Headmaster of said Gashbari High School. Since the respondent No.4 has already taken over charge as the regular Headmaster of said Gashbari High School in terms of the order dated 11.05.2021 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam, this writ petition being devoid of any merit stands dismissed. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010194982021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3292/2021 SCHOOLoMANAGINGoANDoDEVELOPMENToCOMMITTEEoOFoGASHBARIo HIGHoSCHOOLoANDoANR. KAMRUPo(R) oASSAM oREP.oBYoITSoPRESIDENT oSRIoMANABoSAHARIA oS/O.oLT.oNARESWARoSAHARIA oR/O.oPUNPARoLOCKRA oP.O.oBORDANGERIKUCHI oP.S.oBAIHATAoCHARIALI oKAMRUPoASSAM. 2:oBHUPENoBODO MEMBERoSECRETARYoOFoSMDCoANDoI/CoHEADMASTERoOFoGASHBARIo HIGHoSCHOOLoKAMRUPo(R) oASSAM. o VERSUS THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMo3oORS REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oSECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPTT. oDISPURoGUWAHATI-781006. 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPTT. ASSAMoKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-781019. o3:THEoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOL KDCoAMINGAON oGUWAHATI-31 oKAMRUPo(R)oASSAM. o 4:ASHOKoKUMARoCHOUDHURY Page No.# 2/4 VILL. MUKALMUA P.O. MUKALMUA NALBARI ASSAM. ASSTT. TEACHER OF GASHBARI HIGH SCHOOL KAMRUP (R) ASSAM. ------------ Advocate for : MR D DEKA Advocate for : SC EDU appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM 3 ORS BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK