Pritam Rabidas v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 21-08-2024 (Vijay Bishnoi, CJ)

This I.A. (Civil) No.2451/2024 is filed on behalf of the applicant, with the Page No.# 3/4 prayer to condone the delay of ninety one (91) days in filling the connected Appeal.

¶2The connected Appeal is filed by the appellant, being aggrieved with the judgment dated 05.04.2024, passed by the learned Single Judge in WP(C) No.4335/2020. The appellant had approached the Writ Court with the contention that his father, who was working as Grade-IV employee in the office of the Executive Engineer, PWD, Silchar Electrical Sub-Division, had died in harness on 26.10.2020. It is the case of the appellant that he applied for appointment on compassionate ground on 04.01.2011 and the District Level Committee has recommended the case of the appellant vide Minutes of the meeting dated 28.05.2013. However, the respondents have not informed the appellant about the fate of his application and when the appellant has applied under the Right to Information Act, in the year 2015 and 2020, he was informed that the State Level Committee, in it's meeting held on 20.08.2018, has rejected the case of the petitioner, on the ground that the ceiling of 5% was already met.

¶3The learned Single Judge, after hearing the learned counsel for parties has recorded the finding that there is no illegality in the action of the State Level Committee in rejecting the case of the appellant on the ground that the ceiling of 5% has already met. The learned Single Judge has further observed that the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in State of West Bengal vs. Debabrata Tiwari and others, reported in AIR 2023 SC 1467, has clearly laid down that in case of prolonged delay, either on the part of the applicant or the authorities, the sense of immediacy is diluted and lost. The learned Single Judge has opined that in view of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in Debabrata Tiwari (Supra), Page No.# 4/4 there is no option except to hold that any other further direction for consideration of the case of the appellant on compassionate ground would not be in sync with the objective of the scheme for compassionate appointment.

¶4It is an admitted position that the father of the appellant had died in harness in the year 2010 and after that, fourteen (14) years have passed. But the family of the appellant has survived without the Government employment.

¶5Taking into consideration the above facts and circumstances of the case and the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in Debabrata Tiwari (Supra), we do not find any illegality in the view taken by the learned Single Judge.

¶6In such circumstances, we are of the view that no case for interference is made out. Resultantly, the I.A. (Civil) No.2451/2024 as well as the connected Writ Appeal are dismissed.

JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010158082024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oI.A.(Civil)/2451/2024o PRITAMoRABIDASo S/O-oLT.oJUMUNAoRABIoDAS,oR/O-oPWDoROAD,oWARDoNO.o24,oP.O.oANDoP.S.-o SILCHAR,oDIST.-oCACHAR,oASSAM,oPIN-o788001. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oP.W.D. (BUILDINGoANDoN.H.)oDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-o6. 2:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oP.W.D.o(BUILDING)oDEPTT. oCHANDMARI oGHY-o3. 3:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONER-CUM-CHAIRMAN oDISTRICToLEVELoSELECTIONoCOMMITTEE oSILCHAR oDIST.-oCACHAR oASSAM oPIN-o788001. 4:THEoEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPWD oGUWAHATIoELECTRICALoDIVISION oCHANDMARI oGHY-o3. 5:THEoASSTT.oEXECUTIVEoENGINEER oPWD oSILCHARoELECTRICALoSUB-DIVISION oDIST.-oCACHAR oASSAM oPIN-o788001. Page No.# 2/4 6:THE CHAIRMAN STATE LEVEL COMMITTEE REP. BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM DISPUR GUWAHATI-06 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. H ALI, B BARMAN,MS S DAS,MR F U BARBHUIYA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, PWD Linked Case : PRITAM RABIDAS S/O- LT. JUMUNA RABI DAS R/O- PWD ROAD WARD NO. 24 P.O. AND P.S.- SILCHAR DIST.- CACHAR ASSAM PIN- 788001. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS REP. BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECY. TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM P.W.D. (BUILDING AND N.H.) DEPTT. DISPUR GHY- 6. ------------ Advocate for : MR. H ALI Advocate for : GA ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS BEFORE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KARDAK ETE