Rupjyoti Saikia Changmai and 8 Ors v. The State of Assam and 11 Ors

ORDER

15.09.2023 Heard Shri L. Mohan, learned counsel for the petitioners, who are aggrieved by a selection process for the post of Gaon Pradhan in various lots in the district of Biswanath. The petitioners claimed preferential treatment being the family members of the ex-Gaon Pradhan. It is the case of the petitioners that they had appeared in the interview held on 20.08.2022 to 24.08.2022 in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Biswanath, whereafter, a Select List was published on 01.11.2022 whereby the private respondents were selected. The petitioners allege gross anomalies in such selection. The petitioners have also claimed to have preferred appeals before the Commissioner of North Assam Division which were not taken up for consideration and therefore the present application was filed. Also heard Shri A. Phukan, learned Standing Counsel, GAD whereas Shri S. Dutta, learned Standing Counsel has appeared for the Revenue Department and Ms. M. Bhattacharjee, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam. The learned counsel for the respondents have however submitted that there is a change in the appellate authority from the Divisional Commissioner to the Commissioner & Secretary / Principal Secretary of the General Administration Department, Assam and in this connection, a notification dated 17.07.2023 is placed before this Court. In view of the aforesaid fact, this Court is of the opinion that even without issuing notice to the private respondents, the writ petition can be disposed of in Page No.# 7/7 the following manner, which will not cause prejudice to the said private respondents. This Court accordingly directs the present appellate authority, namely, Commissioner & Secretary / Principal Secretary of the General Administration Department, Assam to take the appeals into consideration and dispose of the same expeditiously and preferably within an outer limit of 90 days from today. It is needless to state that while making such consideration, the stake holders and affected parties may be given an opportunity of hearing. Further, to facilitate such consideration, the petitioners are directed to submit duplicate copies of the appeal before the present appellate authority. It is also clarified that since the earlier appeals were said to be within time, the question of limitation would not arise and the appeal would be considered on merits. The writ petition accordingly stands disposed of. A copy of the notification dated 17.07.2023 is made a part of the records.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010158782023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4272/2023o RUPJYOTIoSAIKIAoCHANGMAIoANDo8oORSo W/O-oSRIoDILIPoCHANGMAI,o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oPUBoDUBIA,o P.O.-oSANTIPUR,oDIST-oSONITPUR,o ASSAM,oPIN-o784178. 2:oPRASANTAoBARUAH oS/O-oSRIoHEMESWARoBARUAH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oBADALoPATHAR o P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRA oDIST.-oSONITPUR o oPIN-o784168. 3:oCHANDANoHAZARIKA oS/O-oSRIoNANDIRAMoHAZARIKA o RESIDENToOFoSOLLENGIoGURI o P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRA o DIST.-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 4:oDIPAKoBARUAH oS/O-oSRIoCHENIRAMoBARUAH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oKAMALAoPATHAR o PageoNo.#o2/7 P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRA o DIST-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 5:oJITULoBARUAH oS/O-oSRIoHEMCHANDRAoBARUAH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oKUKURACHUWA o P.O.-oDIFALLOoSATRA o DIST-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 6:oKALPANAoSAIKIAoPHUKAN oD/O-oSRIoBUDHIRAMoSAIKIA o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oKAKILAoJARANI o P.O.-oDUBIA oDIST.-oSONITPUR o oPIN-784178. 7:oBANTIoMUDOIoBORAH oW/O-oSRIoPURANDARoBORAH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oDUBAIoJURHATIYA o P.O.-oDUBIA oDIST.-oSONITPUR o oPIN-o784178. 8:oNIRMALIoBORAHoCHOUDHURY oD/O-oSRIoMAHENDRAoBORA o RESIDENToOFoVILL-oJAMUWANI o P.O.-oJANATA oDIST.-oSONITPUR PageoNo.#o3/7 o oPIN-o784179. 9:oKAKALIoHAZARIKA oW/O-oSRIoHIRANKAoHAZARIKA o RESIDENToOFoVILL-oSOLALoGAON o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oSOOTEA o DIST-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784175o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo11oORSo TOoBEoREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o REVENUEoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONER oNORTHoASSAMoDIVISION oTEZPUR oSONITPUR oASSAM. 3:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oBISWANATH oBISWANATHoCHARIALI oASSAM. 4:KRISHNAoGOGOI oS/O-oBIJOYoCHANDRAoGOGOI o VILL-oPUB-DUBIA oP.O.-oSANTIPUR o DIST.-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784178. 5:KHARGESWARoBORAH oS/O-oKHAGENoBORAH PageoNo.#o4/7 o VILL-oBORGHULI o P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRAo(GOHPUR) o DIST.-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 6:MOUSUMIoHAZARIKAoSAIKIA oW/O-oSRIoBENUDHARoSAIKIA o VILL-oSOLLENGIoGURI o P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRA o DIST.-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 7:PRANJALoBORAH oS/O-oSRIoHEMANTAoBORAH o VILL-oKHARANIJAN oKAMALAoPATHAR o P.O.-oELLENGIoSATRAo(GOHPUR) o DIST.-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784168. 8:BADHENoBEZBARUAH oS/O-oSRIoMOHORAMoBAZBARUAH o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oKUKURACHUWA o P.O-oDIFALLOoSATRA o DIST-oSONITPUR o PIN-o784178. 9:RAJUoSAIKIA Page No.# 5/7 S/O- PUNESWAR HAZARIKA VILL- KAKILA JARANI P.O.- DUBIA DIST.- SONITPUR PIN- 784178. 10:LALIT BORAH S/O- SRI RAMESWAR BORAH RESIDENT OF VILLAGE- DUBIA JURHATIYA P.O.- DUBIA DIST.- SONITPUR PIN- 784178. 11:PANKAJ BORAH S/O- SRI DOLAN BORAH VILL- JAMUWANI P.O.- JANATA DIST.- SONITPUR PIN- 784179. 12:DIGANTA SAIKIA S/O- SRI PURNA SAIKIA RESIDENT OF VILL- SOLAN GAON P.O. AND P.S.- SOOTEA DIST- SONITPUR PIN- 784175 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. L GOGOI Advocate for the Respondent : SC, REVENUE Page No.# 6/7 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI