Nikhilesh Goswami and 5 Ors v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER Date : 27/09/2023

Heard Mr. U.K. Nair, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. S. P. Sharma, learned counsel for the writ petitioners. Also heard Mr. H. Sarma, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing on behalf of the respondent nos. 1 to 4. This writ petition has been filed jointly by the 6 (six) petitioners assailing the maintainability of the proceeding registered as ASCW Case No. 12/2023 before the Assam State Commission for Women, Beltola, Assam, inter-alia contending that the Assam State Commission for Women (ASCW) does not have the authority or jurisdiction under the law to entertain the issues raised in the complaint filed by the private respondents. By referring to the provisions of section 10 of the Assam State Commission for Women Act, 1994 as well as the decision rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Bhabani Prasad Jena Vs. Convenor Secretary, Orissa State Commission for Women and others reported in (2010) 8 SCC 633, Mr. Nair submits that law is firmly settled that the ASCW does not have any adjudicatory power and cannot entertain issues which are beyond the ambit of clause 10 of the Act. Notwithstanding the same and despite categorical objection raised by the writ petitioners questioning the maintainability of the proceedings, the learned Commission, submits Mr. Nair, has not passed any order on the issue of maintainability of the proceeding and on the contrary, had proceeded with the matter from time to time, thus, causing serious harassment and prejudice to the writ petitioners. It is also the submission of Mr. Nair that the service of the complainants were terminated on account of misconduct but in order to secure an order of reinstatement in service, they had approached the Commission by taking up grounds, which were not even urged by the girl child or her parents, before any forum. Responding to the above, Mr. H. Sarma, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Page No.# 6/6 Assam, submits that since the petitioners have questioned the jurisdiction of the ASCW to entertain the proceeding, an order be passed by this Court directing the learned Commission to first decide on the question of jurisdiction and pass a speaking order therein. Mr. Nair, learned counsel for the writ petitioners has agreed to such a recourse. In view of the above, without expressing any further opinion on the issues raised in this writ petition, this writ petition is being disposed of by providing that the learned ASCW shall take up the plea of maintainability of the proceeding raised by the writ petitioners, first in point of time and pass a speaking order in respect thereof before proceeding any further in the matter. The Commission may fix a firm date of hearing on the question of maintainability by issuing prior notices to both the sides. It is only after the question of maintainability is decided that any further be passed in the matter, in accordance with law. The question of maintainability of the proceeding be decided as expeditiously as possible but not later than 60(sixty) days from the date of hearing to be fixed in terms of the order of this Court. If the writ petitioners continued to remain aggrieved even thereafter, it would be open for them to approach this Court by filing fresh writ petition(s). With the above observations, this writ petition stands disposed of.

JUDGE

sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010217182023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5695/2023o NIKHILESHoGOSWAMIoANDo5oORS.o SONoOFoSRIoHARINARAYANoGOSWAMI,o RESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.o2,oROHINIoDASoPATH,o MATHGHARIA,oP.O.oANDoP.S.-oNOONMATI,o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUPo(METRO),o GUWAHATI,oPIN-o781020,oASSAM. 2:oDR.oBASANTAoKUMARoBHUYAN oFORMERoPRINCIPAL oGURUKULoGRAMMARoSENIORoSECONDARYoSCHOOL o SONoOFoLATEoPASUPATIoBHUYAN o RESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.o19 o12oWESToBYEoLANE o RGoBAROOAHoROADo(RAJAToKAMALoPATH) o ZOOROADoTINIALI oP.O.-oZOOROAD o P.S.-oGITANAGAR o oPIN-o781024. 3:oKAPILoDEVAoGOSWAMI oSONoOFoSRIoLAKSHMIoNARAYANoGOSWAMI o RESIDENToOFoBALAJIoHOUSE oFLAToNO.o5 o PageoNo.#o2/6 BANALAXMIoPATH oBONGAON oBELTOLA o P.O.-oBELTOLA oP.S.-oBASISTHA o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUP(METRO) o oPIN-o781028 oASSAM. 4:oSMITINALAoKONWAR oDAUGHTERoOFoLATEoINDIBORoKONWAR o RESIDENToOFoMOTHERoTERESAoROAD o HEMoBARUAHoROAD oP.S.-oGEETAoNAGAR o P.O.-oZOOoROAD o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUP(METRO) o PIN-o781024 oASSAM. 5:oSANGEETAoTALUKDAR oDAUGHTERoOFoSRIoSAMIRANoCHANDRAoDAS o RESIDENToOFoSIBAoNATHoGOGOIoPATH o HOUSEoNO.o33-A oNEARoPANJABARIoUCOoBANK oPANJABARI o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUP(METRO) o oPIN-o781037 oASSAM. 6:oBARASHAoKALITA oDAUGHTERoOFoLATEoANANTAoRAMoKALITA o RESIDENToOFoRAJGARHoROAD PageoNo.#o3/6 oBYEoLANEoNO.o4 o HOUSEoNO.o7(B) oP.O.-oSILPUKHURI o P.O.-oCHANDMARI o PIN-o781003 oASSAMo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOF ASSAM,o DEPARTMENToOFoWOMENoANDoCHILDoDEVELOPMENT,o JANATAoBHAWAN,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI,o PIN-o781006,oASSAM. 2:ASSAMoSTATEoCOMMISSIONoFORoWOMEN oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoCHAIRMAN o BELTOLAoTINIALI o oPIN-o781028. 3:THEoMEMBERoSECRETARY oASSAMoSTATEoCOMMISSIONoFORoWOMEN oBELTOLAoTINIALI o PIN-o781028. 4:LEGALoADVISORYoCOMMITTEE oASSAMoSTATEoCOMMISSIONoFORoWOMEN oBELTOLAoTINIALI o PIN-o781028. 5:SANDHYAoRANIoHAZARIKA oRESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.o66 PageoNo.#o4/6 oJAYANAGAR o MALIGAON o oPIN-o781011. 6:MONALISAoDAS oRESIDENToOFoHAREoKRISHNAoAPARTMENT o 2NDoFLOOR oNARIKALBASTI o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUP(METRO) o ASSAM oPIN-o781011. 7:BHANUoDAS oRESIDENToOFoHOUSEoNO.o36 oNAMGHARoPATH o LAKHMINAGAR oHATIGAON o INoTHEoDISTRICToOFoKAMRUP(METRO) o ASSAM oPIN-o781038. 8:LIPIKAoKALITAoDAS oC/O-oSABINoDAS o HOUSEoNO.o50 oNAWAPARA oGARIGAON o FORESToSCHOOLoSLUICEoGATE oJALUKBARI o GARIGAON o ASSAM Page No.# 5/6 PIN- 781012 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. U K NAIR Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM