Hem Kanta Phukan and 11 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 12.05.2023 Heard Mr. S. Islam, the learned counsel for the petitioners. Mr. P.N. Sarma, the learned Standing Counsel appears on behalf of the respondent Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 and Ms. P. Swargiary, the learned Standing Counsel for the respondent No. 2.

¶2The instant writ petition has been filed by the petitioners claiming that they are entitled to pension in terms with the Assam Service(Pension) Rules, 1969 as well as also entitled to subscribe to the GPF in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Services) Rules, 1937.

¶3The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submits that the case of the petitioners is squarely covered by the judgment of this Court in the case of Purnima Hore and Ors. Vs. State of Assam reported in 2023 SCC Online Gau 1165 wherein this Court at paragraph No. 123 held that those teachers who come within the fold of stipendiary teachers were entitled to the benefits under the Assam Service (Pension) Rules. 1969 and they are not Page No.# 5/6 covered under the new pension scheme in terms with the New Defined Contributory Pension Scheme, 2009. This Court further held in the said judgment that such teachers would also be entitled to subscribe to the GPF. Apart from that, this Court also held that such teachers would also be entitled to other pensionary benefits to which a Government servant of corresponding rank would be entitled to. The learned counsel further submitted that the petitioners as would appear from a perusal of the Annexures-1 to the writ petition were appointed on various dates as stipendiary teachers. Thereupon they completed the Junior Basic Training as would appear from a perusal of Annexure-2 series and they were given the regular scale of pay from 2007 onwards. Further to that, the learned counsel also submitted that initially the petitioners had subscribed to the GPF but subsequently in pursuance to an order issued by the Director, Finance Budget Department to the Deputy Accountant General (PA) dated 23/2/2010, the petitioners were not allowed to subscribe to the GPF. It is under such circumstances, the petitioners therefore approached this Court claiming the relief as sought for.

¶4Upon perusal of the materials and hearing the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties, this Court is of the opinion, that the case of the petitioners is squarely covered by the judgment of this Court in the case of Purnima Hore (supra).

¶5Accordingly, the petitioners would be entitled to the benefits under the Assam Service (Pension) Rules, 1969 and the petitioners are not covered under the NCDPS, 2009. This Court further observes that the petitioner would be entitled to subscribe to the GPF in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Services) Rules 1937.

¶6Taking into account the above declaration, this Court therefore disposes Page No.# 6/6 the instant writ petition thereby directing the Respondent Authorities to do the needful so that the petitioners are granted the benefits of pension in terms with the Assam Service (Pension) Rules of 1969 as well as the GPF in terms with the General Provident Fund (Assam Services) Rules 1937.

¶7This Court further makes it clear that in doing so the said authorities would be at liberty to deduct such amounts so deposited by the State Government in terms with the NCDPS, 2009.

¶8With the above observations and directions, the instant writ petition stands disposed off. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010169712021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5506/2021o HEMoKANTAoPHUKANoANDo11oORSo S/OoLATEoROSHESHWARoPHUKAN,oR/OoVILL.oMENCHA,oP.O.oLALUK,oDIST.o LAKHIMPUR,oASSAM. 2:oRAMNATHoDAS oS/OoLAKSHESWARoDAS oR/OoVILL.oBONGALMORA oSANTIPUR oP.O.oBARALANGI oASSAM. 3:oCHENIMAIoDAS oW/OoLILAoBHUMIJ oR/OoVILL.oCHAT oP.O.oLAKHANABARI oASSAM 4:oSADANANDAoDADHARA oS/OoPRABHAToDADHARA oR/OoVILL.oANDoP.O.oSANTPUR 5:oSONMONIoDEORI oW/OoRAJUoDEORI oR/OoVILL.oANDoP.O.oBAHGARAH oASSAM. PageoNo.#o2/6 6:oJINTIMONIoBORAH oW/OoTILAKoNEOG oR/OoWARDoNO.o3 oBIHPURIA oP.OoBIHPURIA oASSAM. 7:oRAJIBoPATHAK oS/OoLATEoLILAKANTAoPATHAK oR/OoVILL.oSONARIoBARIoGAON oP.O.oLATEKUPUKHURI oASSAM. 8:oIRANIoHAZARIKA oW/OoTANKESWARoHAZARIKA oR/OoVILL.oMORNOIGURI oP.O.oDIKRONG oASSAM. 9:oMANJURANIoDAS oW/OoREBAoDAS oR/OoVILL.oDAKUWA oP.O.oDHALPUR oASSAM. 10:oBULUoCHANDRAoNATH oS/OoLATEoJUGESHoCHANDRAoNATH oR/OoVILL.oKATHANIoMERBIL oP.O.oMERBIL oASSAM. 11:oASHIMoBHUYAN oS/OoLATEoBAGIRAMoBHUYAN oR/OoGOPALPUR oP.OoPHULBARI oASSAM. PageoNo.#o3/6 12:oSANDIPoGOPE oS/OoLATEoNANIoGOPALoGOPE oR/OoWARDoNO.o4 oBIHPURIA oP.O.oBIHPURIA oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oELEMENTARYo EDUCATIONoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATIo781006 2:THEoACCOUNTANToGENERALo(AoANDoE) oASSAM oMAIDAMGAON oBELTOLA oGUWAHATIo781029 3:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATIo781019 4:THEoDIST.oELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oLAKHIMPUR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM oPINo787001 5:THEoDEPUTYoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOLS oLAKHIMPUR oP.O.oANDoDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM oPINo787001 6:THEoBLOCKoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oBIHPURIA oP.O.oBIHPURIA oDIST.LAKHIMPUR oASSAM oPINo784161 Page No.# 4/6 7:THE BLOCK ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER NARAYANPUR P.O. NARAYANPUR DIST. LAHIMPUR ASSAM PIN 78416 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. S ISLAM Advocate for the Respondent : SC, AG BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH