The President, the School Managing Committee of Milan Mem Kasimpur School and Anr v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 31.05.2024

¶1Heard Mr. R.C. Saikia, learned counsel for the petitioners.

¶2Also heard Mr. B. Kaushik, learned standing counsel, Elementary Education Department, for respondent Nos. 1, 4 & 6 and Ms. P. Das, learned standing counsel, Secondary Education Department, for respondent Nos. 2, 3 & 5. Page No.# 3/4

¶3The petitioners, in the present writ petition, are the President and the Secretary of the School Managing Committee of Milan MEM, Kashimpur School in the district of Nalbari. They are aggrieved with the order dated 24.07.2023 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam, by which, their school, i.e., Milan MEM, Kashimpur School has been merged/amalgamated with the Anchalik Milan Secondary School, Kashimpur.

¶4It is the case of the petitioners that Clause-11 of the Office Memorandum dated 03.08.2021, issued by the Secondary Education Department, Government of Assam provides that to optimize the use of services of the teachers of a two-class High School, one nearby ME School having poor enrolment i.e., less than 35 students in each class may be merged with the High School. However, the school of the petitioners has an enrolment of more than 224 students and, therefore, the amalgamation of the petitioners' school with the Anchalik Milan Secondary School, Kashimpur is not in terms of Clause-11 of the O.M. dated

03.08.2021.

¶5The petitioners have also made a representation before the District Elementary Education Officer, Nalbari, on 09.08.2023 for cancellation of the order of amalgamation.

¶6Clause-19 of the O.M. dated 03.08.2021 provides that the Director concerned will issue necessary order for amalgamation and for any disputes arising out of the order, the aggrieved institutions/public may appeal before the Government in the Secondary Education or Elementary Education Department, as the case may be. Page No.# 4/4

¶7A perusal of the representation dated 09.08.2023 would indicate that the petitioners have approached the wrong forum.

¶8Accordingly, after hearing the learned counsel for the parties, this writ petition is disposed of directing the petitioners to file an appeal, in terms of Clause-19 of the O.M. dated 03.08.2021, before the Government in the Secondary Education or Elementary Education Department, as the case may be, within a period of 3 weeks from today. Thereafter, on receipt of the appeal, the Government, in the Secondary Education or Elementary Education Department, shall dispose of the appeal in accordance with law by a speaking order within a period of 6 weeks from the date of receipt of the appeal.

¶9Interim order of status-quo passed on 13.09.2023, shall remain in force till the appeal is disposed of by the Government.

¶10With the above observations and directions, the writ petition is disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010195782023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5262/2023o THEoPRESIDENT,oTHEoSCHOOLoMANAGINGoCOMMITTEEoOFoMILANoMEMo KASIMPURoSCHOOLoANDoANRo VILLAGE-oKASIMPUR,oP.O.-oKENDUKUCHI,oINoTHEoDISTRICToOFoNALBARI, REPRESENTEDoBYoMDoKALAMoALI,o51oYEARS,oSONoOFoLATEo NASIMUDDINoALI,oVILLAGE-oKASHIMPUR,oP.O.-oKEDUKUCHI,oINoTHEo DISTRICToOFoNALBARI,oASSAM,oPIN-o781314. 2:oTHEoSECRETARY oTHEoSCHOOLoMANAGINGoCOMMITTEEoOFoMILANoMEM oKASHIMPURoSCHOOL oVILLAGE-oKASHIMPUR oP.O.-oKENDUKUCHI oINoTHEoDISTRICToOFoNALBARI oREPRESENTEDoBYoMD.oEUNUSoALI oAGEDo46oYEARS oSONoOFoLATEoABBASoALI oVILLAGE-oKASHIMPUR oP.O.-oKENDUKUCHI oINoTHEoDISTRICToOFoNALBARI oASSAM oPIN-o781314o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o ELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oSECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR Page No.# 2/4 GUWAHATI- 781006. 3:THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI- 781019 ASSAM. 4:THE DIRECTOR OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI- 781019 ASSAM. 5:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS N.D.C. NALBARI DISTRICT- NALBARI PIN- 781335 ASSAM. 6:DISTRICT ELEMENTARY OFFICER NALBARI DISTRICT- NALBARI PIN- 781335 ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. R C SAIKIA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, ELEM. EDU BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR