Jayanta Kumar Goswami v. The State of Assam and 3 Ors

ORDER Date : 28-07-2023

Heard Mr. P. Bharadwaj, learned counsel for the writ petitioner. Also heard Mr. R. Dhar, learned Addl. Sr. Govt. Advocate, Assam appearing for the State respondents. The writ petitioner herein is presently serving as Assistant Engineer (Civil), PWD. Earlier he was denied promotion by the department on the ground that the qualification of "Section A&B of Associate Membership Examination AMICE(I) in Civil Engineering" from the Institution of Civil Engineers (India), Ludhiana, Punjab was not equivalent to BE degree and hence, there was a question mark on his educational qualification. The aforesaid stand of the departmental authorities was apparently taken on the basis of a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court rendered in "Orissa Lift Irrigation" case. However, being aggrieved by decision of the authorities, the petitioner had approached this Court by filing W.P.(C) No. 5046/2022, which was disposed of by order dated 05-08-2022 directing the authorities to pass a reasoned order on the claim of the petitioner for promotion. In view of the fact that other officers junior to the petitioner having the same Page No.# 3/4 qualification and from the same institute were considered for promotion and had been duly promoted to the rank of Assistant Engineer (Civil), PWD, by the notification dated 06-01-2023, the petitioner was promoted to the rank of Assistant Engineer (Civil). The grievance of the petitioner, however, is to the effect that his promotion given by the notification dated 06-01-2023, ought to have been with retrospective effect from the day on which his juniors were promoted to the rank of Assistant Engineer (Civil). Ventilating his grievance as above, the petitioner had submitted representation dated 23-03-2023, before the respondent No. 2. However, since no action has been taken on such representation till today, the petitioner has been compelled to approach this Court by filing the present writ petition. Mr. Dhar, learned Govt. Advocate, Assam submits on instruction that the departmental authorities are examining the representations submitted by the petitioner and a decision will be taken in the matter without undue delay. If that be so and considering the nature of grievance expressed in the writ petition, this Court is of the opinion that no practical purpose will be served by keeping this writ petition pending before this Court any further. This writ petition is, therefore, disposed of with a direction upon the respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to consider the representation dated 23-03-2023 submitted by the petitioner in accordance with law and pass reasoned order(s) therein, within a period of 06 weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. If the petitioner continues to remain aggrieved in the matter even thereafter, it will Page No.# 4/4 be open for him to approach this Court afresh by filing appropriate petition. Writ petition stands disposed of accordingly.

JUDGE GS Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010144092023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3867/2023o JAYANTAoKUMARoGOSWAMIo SONoOFoPRASANTAoKUMARoGOSWAMIo RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oTELIAPAHUKATA,o P.O.-oURIAGAON,oDISTRICT-oNAGAON,o ASSAM,oPIN-o782003. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo3oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM,o ASSAMoSECRETARIAT,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-o781006,oASSAM. 2:THEoSPECIALoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSPECIALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT. OFoASSAM oPUBLICoWORKSoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 o ASSAM. 3:THEoSECRETARY oPUBLICoWORKSo(ROADS)oDEPARTMENT oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 o ASSAM. 4:THEoDEPUTYoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oPUBLICoWORKSo(ROADS)oDEPARTMENT Page No.# 2/4 ESTABLISHMENT-B BRANCH DISPUR- 781006 ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. M K CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : SC, PWD BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM