Abdul Baten and 6 Ors v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 10-01-2024 Heard Mr. S.K. Das, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Mr. B. Talukdar, learned standing counsel, Education (Elementary) Department, representing the respondent Nos.1, 2 & 4 and Mr. R. Islam, learned counsel, representing the respondent No.5. The petitioners, who are the members of the School Managing Committee and guardians of children studying in 349 No. Dakhin Bailarchar L.P. School, have, by way of the present proceeding, raised a grievance with regard to the proposed shifting of the School from its present site to Kalapakani Part-II area in terms of an enquiry report purportedly made by the respondents. The petitioners submits that the School was shifted to the present place after the earlier site of the School was eroded by the river and the present site is about 400 Mtr. from its earlier site. Page No.# 3/4 The reports available with regard to the issue of shifting of the present School to Kalapakani Part-II area is contradictory. Accordingly, in view of the disputed questions arising in the present proceeding, it would not be possible on the part of this Court to come to a definite conclusion as to the site wherein the School should function. Moreover, the School at the site wherein a provincialised School is to function is to be based on the decision of the authorities. However, such decision must be based on cogent and relevant materials. In view of the above position, this writ petition stands disposed of directing the parties to prefer appeal(s) before the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of School Education and therein raise their respective claims in support of their contentions as to whether the School is to be situated. The Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of School Education, on receipt of such appeal(s) either from the petitioners or from the respondent No.5, shall proceed with the matter and upon hearing the parties involved in the proceeding and also conducting field verification through a competent Officer of the Department or by involving the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Dhubri come to a conclusion with regard to the contentions raised by the petitioners and thereafter decide as to the site wherein the said School is to continue to function. The said decision shall be arrived at within a period of 3(three) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order along with the appeal(s) that may be filed by the petitioners or by the respondent No.5. For facilitating the above exercise, the petitioners and the respondent No.5 shall submit their respective contentions in form of appeal(s) before the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of School Education, who shall thereafter carry out the exercise as required by him, Page No.# 4/4 hereinabove. Till such time the said exercise is completed and a decision thereon is communicated to the parties in the form of a speaking order, the School shall continue to operate from its present site, i.e. at Bailarchar area, and shall not be shifted to Kalapakani Part-II area. The said order shall remain in force till the decision in the matter is communicated to the parties by the Secretary to the Government of Assam, Department of School Education on arriving at a conclusion after the enquiry with regard to the rival contentions of the parties herein. With the above observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of. J U D G E Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010167652022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5482/2022o 1:oABDULoBATENoANDo6oORSo (FORMERoPRESIDENToSMC/oANDoF/O.oAZMALoSK,oCLASS-III),oS/O.oLT.o HASENoALI,oVILL.oKALAPAKANIoPT-II,o(BAILARoCHAR),oP.O.oPATAMARI,o DIST.oDHUBRI,oASSAM,oPIN-783324. 2:oJARINAoBIBI (M/O.oJOYNALoABEDINoCLASSIV)oW/O.oABDULoHYEoSKoVILL.o KALAPAKANIoPT-IIo(BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMo PIN-783324. 3:oSIDDIKoALI (F/O.oAYSHAoSIDDIKAoCLASS-II)oS/O.oHASENoALIoVILL.oKALAPAKANIoPT-IIo (BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-783324. 4:oKURANoALI (F/O.oKOHINURoKHATUNoCLASSIV)oS/O.oNAYABoALIoVILL.oKALAPAKANIo PT-IIo(BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-783324. 5:oMOSTOFAoSK (F/O.oEUSUFoALIoCLASS-V)oS/O.oALTAPoALIoVILL.oKALAPAKANIoPT-II (BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-783324. 6:oAHMENoALI (F/O.oAYMONAoKHATUNoCLASS-IV)oS/O.oLT.oRAJABoALIoVILL.oKALAPAKANI PT-IIo(BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-783324. 7:oSAIJUDINoSK (F/O.oNASIRoUDDINoCLASS-I)oS/O.oSIDDIKoALIoVILL.oKALAPAKANIoPT-II (BAILARoCHAR)oP.O.oPATAMARIoDIST.oDHUBRIoASSAMoPIN-783324o ooooooooooooooooooooooVERSUSo 1:oTHEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSoTOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDo SECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoDEPTT.,o Page No.# 2/4 DISPUR, GUWAHATI-06. 2:THE DIRECTOR OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI-19. 3:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DIST. DHUBRI PIN-783301. 4:THE DISTRICT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER DHUBRI ASSAM PIN-783301. 5:FAZAR ALI S/O. MUZAHAR MUNSHI VILL. KALAPAKANI PT-II P.O. PATAMARI DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM PIN-783324 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S K DAS Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR