Ratnawali Devi v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 20.01.2023

Heard Mr. R. Islam, learned counsel for the petitioner.Also heard Mr. N. J.Khataniar, learned Standing Counsel, Secondary Education Department.

¶2The present petitioner was a Lecturer in Burhinagar Junior College, who retired from service on 30.4.2019 and she challenges an order dated 27.6.2019 issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam appointing respondent No.7 as the Principal of the said Burhinagar Junior College.

¶3During the period of service of the petitioner and prior to her retirement, the petitioner alongwith respondent No.7 participated in a selection process for the post of Principal of the said College, pursuant to an advertisement dated Page No.# 3/4

19.6.2014. In the said selection process, the present respondent No.7 was selected as the Principal of said College and the selection committee placed the present writ petitioner in Serial No.2 in terms of the merit.

¶4Such selection was challenged by the present writ petitioner by way of WP(C) No. 3629/2014. The said writ petition preferred by the present writ petitioner was disposed of by this court by directing the Director of Secondary Education, Assam to consider the grievances of the present petitioner regarding selection of respondent No.7. However this court clarified in the said order that this court had not expressed any opinion on the merit of the case of the petitioner.

¶5Thereafter, the Director of Higher Education, Assam rejected the proposal of the Governing Body to appoint respondent No.7. Accordingly the Governing Body of the College preferred WP(C) No.5799/2014. This court under its order dated 10.1.2018 while interfering with the decision of the Director of the Higher Education, Assam in rejecting the proposal of the Governing Body for appointment of respondent No.7 as Principal of the College, remanded the matter for a fresh decision.

¶6In the meantime, the petitioner has retired from service and in terms of the order dated 10.1.2018 passed in WP(C) No.5799/2014, the impugned order has been passed.

¶7On the aforesaid backdrop this court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner in the present writ petition cannot be an aggrieved party for the following reasons:

(i) The present writ petition preferred by the present writ petitioner was remanded back to the Director of Higher Education, Assam without entering Page No.# 4/4 into the merit of the claim of the present petitioner. Thus, this court had not determined the merit of the claim of the present petitioner in his earlier writ petition.

(ii) The decision of the Director of Secondary Education has been interfered by this court in WP(C) No.5799/2014, which has attained finality and it was the bounden duty of the Director of Higher Education, Assam to comply with the order dated 10.1.2018 passed in WP(C) No. 5799/2014, in view of finality of said order. In the meantime, the petitioner had retired from her service on attaining the age of superannuation and at this stage, even if the present order is set aside, she cannot be appointed as a Principal of the said college.

¶8Therefore, in the considered opinion of this Court, the present petitioner is having no locus, in given facts and circumstances of the present case, to assail the order dated 27.6.2019.

¶9Accordingly the present writ petition is dismissed. If the petitioner had any grievances for any wrong done to her, she may claim damages before appropriate forum. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010217862021 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/7087/2021o RATNAWALIoDEVIo W/OoBIRENDRAoCHANDRAoSARMA,oRETDoPRINCIPALoI/CoOFo BURHINAGARoSR.oSECONDARYoSCHOOL,oDARRANG.oR/OoVILLo GOMTHAPARA,oPOoDEODHANIGHAT,oPSoSIPAJHAR,oDISToDARRANGo (ASSAM),oPINo784147 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORSo REPoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARY,oTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAMo EDUCATIONo(SECONDARY)oDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-781019 3:THEoFINANCEoDEPARTMENT oREPoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006 4:THEoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOLS oDARRANGoDISTRICToCIRCLE oMANGALDOI oASSAM 5:THEoPRESIDENT oSCHOOLoMANAGINGoANDoDEVELOPMENToCOMMITTEE oBURHINAGARoSENIORoSECONDARYoSCHOOL oMAHALIAPARA oDARRANG-784147 Page No.# 2/4 ASSAM 6:THE SELECTION COMMITTEE FOR THE POST OF PRINCIPAL BURHINAGAR SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL MAHALIAPARA DARRANG ASSAM PIN 784147 7:DIGANTA RAJBONGSHI S/O MR. DINANATH DEKA PRINCIPAL BURHINAGAR SENIOUR SECONDARY SCHOOL MAHALIAPARA DARRANG ASSAM PIN 78414 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR D N SARMA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU. BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY