Chunindra Nath Roy v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010111222020 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3250/2020o CHUNINDRAoNATHoROYo S/OoLATEoRABINDRANATHoROY,o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGEoKHERBARIoPT-III,oPOoSAGOLIA,oDISToDHUBRIo ASSAMo783335 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAMoEDUCATIONoELEMENTARYoDEPARTMENTo DISPUR,oGUWAHATIo6 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oASSAMoKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATIo781019 3:THEoDIRECTORoOFoPENSION oHOUSEFEDoBELTOLA oGUWAHATIo781028 4:THEoDISTRICToELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oDHUBRIoDISTRICToASSAM 5:THEoDEPUTYoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOLS oDHUBRIoASSAM 6:THEoBLOCKoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oAGOMONI oDISToDHUBRIoASSAo Page No.# 2/5 Advocate for the Petitioner : MRS. K DEVI Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU

BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANASH RANJAN PATHAK 30/08/2023 Heard Mrs. K Devi, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. P N Sarma, learned Standing counsel, Department of School (Elementary) Education for the respondent Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6. Also heard Mr. B Deuri, learned Government Advocate, Assam for the respondent No. 3, Directorate of Pension.

¶2Petitioner, Shri Chunindra Nath Roy, was serving as Assistant Teacher at Agyaram Kherbari Lower Primary School under Agomoni Education Block of District-Dhubri since 01.11.1979 during its venture stage. Later, the petitioner was made the Head Teacher of the said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School.

¶3Pursuant to the order of the State Government in the Elementary Education Department No. PMA-29/2013/Pt.-III/121 dated 22.11.2013, the Director of Elementary Education, Assam by order No. EE(Plan)/Provn/ Dhubri/Venture LP/62/Pt-II/2013/208 dated 19.12.2013 provincialised the service of the petitioner under the provisions of the Assam Venture Educational Institutions (Provincialisation of Services) Act, 2011 amended in 2012 during its force w.e.f. 01.01.2013. Since provincialisation of his service, the petitioner continued to serve in said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School.

¶4It is stated that the Block Elementary Education Officer (BEEO), Agomoni by communication No. AEE/S-56/2018-19/250 dated 04.06.2020 informed the petitioner that as per his Class-X HSLC Examination pass certificate, he had attained 60 years of age on 03.04.2019 and accordingly, directed him to hand over charge of the said school immediately to the senior most Assistant Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School as 30.04.2019 was his last working day. However, the petitioner continued to serve as the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School up to 30.04.2020 by drawing his monthly salary from 01.05.2019 to 30.04.2020.

¶5As the petitioner had overdrawn an amount of Rs.4,15,148/- by overstaying in his service for a period of 1 (one) year from 01.05.2019 to 30.04.2020, the BEEO, Agomani directed the petitioner to Page No.# 3/5 deposit the said excess overdrawn amount through Treasury Challan and to submit the original Challan of such deposit so as to process his retirement benefits.

¶6Being aggrieved with the said communication of the BEEO, Agomoni dated 04.06.2020 for recovery of said Rs.4,15,148/- of excess drawal due to overstay in service, the petitioner has preferred this writ petition praying amongst others for a direction to the respondent authorities in the Elementary Education Department to set aside and quash the said communication No. AEE/S-56/2018-19/252 dated 04.06.2020 of the BEEO, Agomani Education Block directing for recovery of amount of Rs.4,15,148/- as excess drawal due to overstay in service during the period from

01.05.2019 to 30.04.2020. Petitioner stated that though he retired from service, but till date he has not been paid any pensionary benefits.

¶7Notice in this case was issued on 11.09.2020, but the respondents in the Elementary Education Department, more particularly, the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Dhubri as well as the Block Elementary Education Officer, Agomani, District-Dhubri and the Director of Elementary Education, Assam have not filed any affidavits in the matter.

¶8Since the petitioner was the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School, the Court by order dated 23.08.2023 directed the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Dhubri as well as the Block Elementary Education Officer, Agomani to apprise the Court as to whether the petitioner was the concerned Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School during his service tenure and if not, to name the concerned DDO for payment of salaries and other financial matters with regard to Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School.

¶9During the deliberation of the matter, the Director of Elementary Education, Assam by its communication dated 29.08.2023 through Mr. P N Sarma, learned Standing counsel, Department of School (Elementary) Education apprised the Court that the Block Elementary Education Officer, Agomani is the concerned DDO of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School and that while serving as the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School, the petitioner was not the DDO of the said L.P. School.

¶10From the communication No. AEE/S-56/2018-19/250 dated 04.06.2020 of the BEEO, Agomani, it can be seen that only on 04.06.2020, the said BEEO, informed the petitioner to hand over the charge of said L.P. School to its Senior most Assistant Teacher as he had retired from service way back on 30.04.2019 itself. Page No.# 4/5

¶11The respondent authorities in the Elementary Education Department failed to place anything before the Court that prior to 30.04.2019, the petitioner was duly informed about the date of his retirement from service.

¶12It is to be noted herein that the petitioner rendered his service from 01.05.2019 to

30.04.2020 as the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School. Said letter of the BEEO, Agomani dated 04.06.2020, Annexure-3 to this writ petition, noted above, itself indicates that the petitioner was serving as the Head Teacher of said Lower Primary School on the date when the BEEO, Agomani issued the said impugned communication dated 04.06.2020 to the petitioner.

¶13It is not the case of the respondents in the Elementary Education Department that during the period from 01.05.2019 to 30.04.2020, the petitioner as the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School did not render his service on it rendering education to the students of the said L.P. School and that service from the petitioner during the said period was not extracted by the respondent authorities.

¶14After hearing the learned counsels for the parties and considering the entire aspect of the matter, it is directed that the respondent authorities in the Elementary Education Department, including the Director of Elementary Education, Assam respondent No. 2, the District Elementary Education Officer, Dhubri respondent No. 4, the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Dhubri respondent No. 5 and the Block Elementary Education Officer, Agomani respondent No. 6 shall not recover the said amount of Rs.4,15,148/- from the petitioner because of his overstay in service from 01.05.2019 to

30.04.2020 as during the said period, the petitioner had rendered service as the Head Teacher of said Agyaram Kherbari L.P. School, noted above and that his service was also extracted by the respondents in the Elementary Education Department.

¶15However, it is made clear that the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Dhubri and/or the District Elementary Education Officer, Dhubri shall submit the pension proposal of the petitioner to the Directorate of Pension, Assam considering the Last Pay Drawn Certificate of the petitioner as on

30.04.2019, the actual date on which the petitioner should have retired from service on attaining the age of superannuation at 60 years as per his HSLC Examination Class-X pass Certificate, without deducting any amount towards his overstay in service during the period from 01.05.2019 to

30.04.2020.

¶16In the meanwhile, if the petitioner has not been paid the provisional pension, provisional Page No.# 5/5 death-cum-retirement gratuity and the leave encashment benefit etc. the same shall be processed and shall be paid to the petitioner by the respondent authorities as per his due entitlement, in accordance with law, at the earliest, depositing such amount in the Bank Account of the petitioner to be furnished by him.

¶17The impugned communication No. AEE/S-56/2018-19/252 dated 04.06.2020 issued by the Block Elementary Education Officer, Agomani is accordingly set aside and quashed.

¶18With the above observation and direction, this writ petition stands allowed to the extent above.

¶19The communication of the Director of Elementary Education, Assam dated 29.08.2023 placed before the Court by Mr. P N Sarma, learned Standing counsel, Department of School (Elementary) Education be kept as a part of the record.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant