Md. Mofidul Islam v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 26.07.2024

¶1Heard Mr. P. Mahanta, learned counsel for the petitioner.

¶2Pursuant to an Advertisement, dated 03.02.2024, issued by the Principal, B.H. College, Howly, Barpeta for the post of Assistant Professor in Political Science, Management and Finance, the petitioner applied for the post of Assistant Professor in Political Science. Thereafter, the petitioner was called for interview on 08.07.2024 by a Communication, dated 25.06.2024, issued by the Principal, B.H. College, Howly, Barpeta.

¶3It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner appeared before the Interview Board along with 4 other candidates, however, the Selection Board refused to interview the petitioner for a total of 3 marks on the ground that he has not submitted the No Objection Certificate. The further case of the Page No.# 3/4 petitioner is that by a Communication dated 14.06.2022 written by the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Higher Education Department and addressed to the Director of Higher Education, Assam and the Director of Technical Education, Assam, it was informed that henceforth teaching and non-teaching staffs of all categories of colleges will not require any NOC from concerned colleges/ universities/polytechnics for applying for any other posts in any Government Organization. The said Communication, dated

14.06.2022, was also forwarded to the Principals of the different colleges in the State of Assam by the Director of Higher Education, Assam by Communication dated 22.06.2024. Therefore, in terms of the Communication dated 14.06.2022, the petitioner was not required to submit his NOC.

¶4Mr. K. Gogoi, learned Standing counsel, Higher Education Department, however, relying on Rule 24 of the Assam College Employees (Provincialized) Rules 2010 (Rules of 2010 in short), submits that the said Rule mandates that the Governing Body shall issue No Objection Certificate to the college employees to apply for admission to course of higher studies and for other jobs. He, therefore, submits that in terms of Rule 24 of the Rules of 2010, No Objection Certificate is required to be submitted by the petitioner.

¶5Mr. P. Mahanta, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has also made a representation on 12.07.2024 before the Director of Higher Education, Assam with regard to the non-conduct of interview of the petitioner despite issuance of Call Letter by the B.H. College, Howly, Barpeta. He also submits that the said representation was submitted through Post before the Director of Higher Education, Assam on 15.07.2024. He, therefore, submits that the petitioner would be satisfied if the direction is given to the Director of Page No.# 4/4 Higher Education, Assam to consider the representation made by the petitioner within a specific period of time.

¶6Recording the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, this writ petition is disposed of directing the Director of Higher Education, Assam to consider the representation made by the petitioner on 12.07.2024 within a period of 2 (two) weeks from the date of receipt of the said representation in accordance with law. It is also made clear that till the representation is considered and disposed of, the respondents, particularly, Respondent No. 2 / Director of Higher Education, Assam, shall not finalize the recommendation with regard to the post of Assistant Professor in Political Science of B.H. College, Howly, Barpeta.

¶7The petitioner is also permitted to furnish a copy of this writ petition alongwith the annexures appended thereto alongwith a certified true copy of this order to the Director of Higher Education, Assam.

¶8With the above observations and directions, this writ petition is disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010144562024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3672/2024o MD.oMOFIDULoISLAMo S/O-oLATEoNURUJoZAMAL,oR/O-oVILLAGE-oPUTHIKHAITY,oP.O.oRUPAHI,o DISTRICT-oNAGAON,oASSAM,oPIN-o782125 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oEDUCATIONo(HIGHER)oDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoHIGHERoEDUCATION oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI oASSAM oPIN-o781019 3:THEoGOVERNINGoBODYoOFoB.H.oCOLLEGE oHOWLY oBARPETA oASSAM oPIN-o781316oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoPRESIDENT 4:THEoPRINCIPALoANDoSECRETARY oB.H.oCOLLEGE oHOWLY oBARPETA oASSAM oPIN-o781316 5:THEoCHAIRMANoOFoTHEoSELECTIONoBOARDoFORoTHEoPOSToOFo ASSISTANToPROFESSOR oPOLITICALoSCIENCEoDEPARTMENT Page No.# 2/4 B.H. COLLEGE HOWLY BARPETA PIN- 781316 6:SUKALPA DEKA C/O- PRINCIPAL B.H.COLLEGE HOWLY BARPETA PIN- 78131 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P MAHANTA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, HIGHER EDU BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR