Amnika Thaosen and 8 Ors v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 03.10.2024 Heard Mr. H. Talukdar, learned Counsel for the petitioner. Also, heard Mr. C. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Dima Hasao, Ms. Toshisenla, learned Standing Counsel on behalf of Mr. R. Dhar, PWD, Mr. A. Chaliha, learned Standing Counsel, Finance Department, Ms. M. Bhattacharjee, learned Additional Senior Counsel for respondent no. 1.

¶2By way of this application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner is seeking direction to command the respondent authorities to release the petitioner's entitlement i.e. arrear salary for the Page No.# 5/7 period 01/08/2017 to 28/02/2020.

¶3The facts of the case is that the petitioners were appointed on different dates before AFRBM period i.e. 1st September 2005, either as M.R labourer or Fixed Pay employees or Casual employees under the respondent no.5.

¶4It is the specific case of the petitioners that in terms of the Judgment rendered by the Division Bench of this Court in W.A. No. 45 of 2014, the respondent no.5 by order dated 29/06/2019 brought the petitioners to the Minimum Pay Scale and has been paying the same w.e.f 01/03/2020. However, since the arrears w.e.f. 01/08/2017 to 28/02/2020 has not been paid, the petitioner approached this Court by filing W.P(C) No. 5160/2022 wherein, this Court by order dated 30/08/2022 directed the respondent No. 5 to submit a demand for budget allocation for payment of arrear salary. Thereafter, the respondent no.5 by letter dated 09/09/2022 submitted the said demand before the respondent no. 3, but the same was not accorded. Situated thus, present writ petition has been filed.

¶5Heard the learned Counsels for both the parties and perused the material available on record.

¶6Today when the matter has been called for admission, Mr. C. Sarma, learned Standing Counsel, Dima Hasao, submits the instructions received from the Office of the Executive Engineer, PWD (R&B), Maibang Division, Maibang, Dima Hasao, dated 01/10/2024, whereby it is informed that pending arrear salary as claimed in the instant petition is not yet paid due to the supplementary demand proposal being not yetsanctioned by Page No.# 6/7 the Finance Department. A copy of the aforesaid instruction is reproduced hereunder for ready reference. "Sir, With reference to the subject cited above, I have the honour to inform you that Rajdeep Bodo had already drawn the pending arrear salary against 2023-2024 surplus salary budget. Therefore, there are no remaining pending salary that the claimant enjoins to. On the other hand, against WP (C) No. 5160/2022 (AmnikaThaosen) &Ors v/s State of Assam & ors), pending arrear salary is not yet paid as the supplementary demand proposal is not yet sanctioned by the Finance Department. The undersigned as submitted supplementary demand to the higher authority several times but financial sanction yet not received. Hence, the department is unable to make the payment WP (C) No. 5166/2022 (SmtAmnikaThaosen& 8 ors v/s State of Assam & ors). This is for favour of yours kind information and necessary action."

¶7Apparent reading of the instruction that the said arrear salary is not being released to the petitioner due to the non-sanction of the Finance Department.

¶8In view of the aforesaid instruction received, this Court, in the interest of justice, is of the considered view that this Writ Petition can be disposed of with a direction to the respondent authorities to release the pending arrear salary due to the petitioners after necessary verification in accordance with law within a period of 3 (three) months from today. Page No.# 7/7

¶9With the aforesaid observation and direction this Writ Petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/7 GAHC010214702023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5741/2023o AMNIKAoTHAOSENoANDo8oORSo D/O-oLATEoBAIDYANATHoTHAOSEN,o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG,o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG,o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO,oASSAM,o PIN-o788831. 2:oANITAoRANIoPAUL oW/O-oLATEoSUSHENDRAoPAUL o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 3:oMAYAoRANIoDAS oW/O-oLATEoPARESHoCH.oDAS o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 4:oANIMAoBORAH oW/O-oLATEoPURNESWARoBORAH o PageoNo.#o2/7 R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 5:oSAMUoCHETRI oS/O-oLATEoDILBAHADURoCHETRI o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 6:oPRADIPoNAMASUDRA oS/O-oLATEoSURESHoNAMASUDRA o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 7:oRATINDRAoROY oS/O-oLATEoPABITRAoROY o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 8:oSHILPIoPAUL oW/O-oPARTHAoSARATHIoDEB o PageoNo.#o3/7 R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831. 9:oRANGPURNAoTHAOSEN oS/O-oLATEoNAIOBARANoTHAOSEN o R/O-oVILL.oMAIBANG o P.O.oANDoP.S.-oMAIBANG o DIST.-oDIMAoHASAO oASSAM o PIN-o788831o VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o HILLSoAREAoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,o GUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM oFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 3:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM oPUBLICoWORKSoROADSoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-06. 4:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oN.C.oHILLSoAUTONOMOUSoCOUNCIL oDIMAoHASAO oHAFLONG oASSAM oPIN-o788819. Page No.# 4/7 5:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER P.W.D. (R AND B) MAIBANG DIVISION DIST.- DIMA HASAO ASSAM PIN- 788831. 6:THE TREASURY OFFICER HAFLONG DIST.- DIMA HASAO ASSAM PIN- 788819. 7:THE TREASURY OFFICER MAIBANG SUB TREASURY MAIBANG DIST.- DIMA HASAO ASSAM PIN- 788831 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR H TALUKDAR, MR. K D SARMA,MRS. M DEKA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, PWD,SC, DIMA HASAO,SC, FINANCE BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KAUSHIK GOSWAMI