Jitu Das v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 01.02.2023 Heard Mr. P.K. Goswami, Mr. K.R. Patgiri, Mr. B. Chetri, Mr. C. Baruah and Ms. S. Kanungoe, learned counsels appearing on behalf of the petitioners and Mr. D. Nath, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State Govt.

¶2The current batch of writ petitions have been filed by the petitioner being aggrieved by the rejection of their application for compassionate appointment by the State Level Committee/ District Level Committee for Compassionate Appointment on the ground that as per the Clause-1 of the Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015, the dependants of a Govt. servant who had died in harness having less than 3 (three) years of service have been made ineligible for being considered for compassionate appointment.

¶3This Court vide judgment and order dated 30.01.2023 passed in WP(C) 1646/2021, Bhaskar Konwar Vs. the State of Assam & Ors., and other connected matters had held that Clause-1 of the Office Memorandum dated

01.06.2015 insofar as depriving the dependents of Govt. servants who had died in harness having less than 3 (three) years of service from being not eligible to be considered for compassionate appointment as unconstitutional, being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and have accordingly struck down Clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum to the extent that deprives the dependants of Govt. servant who have died in harness having less than 3 (three) years of service to be not eligible for compassionate appointment. In the present batch of writ petitions, it is seen from the impugned orders that the application of the petitioners herein have been rejected by the State Level Page No.# 10/13 Committee/District Level Committee for Compassionate Appointment as the case may be solely on the ground that the petitioners claiming consideration for compassionate appointment were not eligible as the Govt. servant in question who died in harness did not have the balance of minimum 3 (three) years of service. Taking into consideration the abovementioned judgment and order of Bhaskar Konwar (supra), this Court interferes with the various order of rejection by the State Level Committee/District Level Committee for Compassionate Appointment as the case may be in the following manner:

4. WP(C) 2609/2018

In the instant case, the State Level Committee in their meeting held on 05.06.2017 had rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground that the remaining service period of the deceased Govt. servant was less than 3 years. The minutes of the meeting dated 05.06.2017 of the State Level Committee and more particularly at Sl. No. 10 stands interfered with a direction to the State Level Committee to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

5. WP(C) 7872/2019

Mr. K.R. Patgiri, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner in the instant case, during the course of hearing had produced the minutes of State Level Committee meeting held on 15.02.2019, whereby the case of the petitioner was rejected. The said minutes of the meeting dated

15.02.2019 is kept on record and marked with letter 'X'.

From a perusal of the said minutes, it appears that the petitioner's Page No.# 11/13 case was rejected on the ground that the deceased Govt. servant did not have the minimum balance of 3 years service. The minutes of the meeting dated

15.02.2019 of the State Level Committee and more particularly at Sl. No. 13 of paragraph 8 stands interfered with a direction to the State Level Committee to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated

01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

6. WP(C) 3087/2022

In the instant case, the State Level Committee in their meeting held on 01.03.2022 had rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground that the remaining service period of the deceased Govt. servant was less than 3 years. The minutes of the meeting dated 01.03.2022 of the State Level Committee stands interfered with only to the extent of rejection of the petitioner under Kamrup Metro district with a direction to the State Level Committee to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated

01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

7. WP(C) 3168/2022

In the instant case, the District Level Committee in their meeting held on 12.01.2022 had rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground that the remaining service period of the father of the petitioner was less than 3 years. The minutes of the meeting dated 12.01.2022 of the District Level Committee and more particularly at Sl. No. 2 stands interfered with and the District Level Committee, Sivasagar are/is directed to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 without Page No.# 12/13 insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

8. WP(C) 3639/2022

In the instant case, the petitioner has challenged the order dated

11.10.2021 issued by the Deputy Commissioner & Chairman District Level Committee, Hailakandi, whereby the petitioner's application for compassionate appointment was rejected on the ground that the Govt. servant in question against whom the petitioner had submitted his application had only 28 days service left. The said order dated 11.10.2021 stands interfered with a direction to the District Level Committee, Hailakandi to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

9. WP(C) 6877/2022

In the instant case, the State Level Committee in their meeting held on 02.08.2022 had rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground that the remaining service period of the deceased Govt. servant was less than 3 years. The minutes of the meeting dated 02.08.2022 of the State Level Committee insofar as Sl. No. 4 of paragraph 7(B) stands interfered with a direction to the State Level Committee to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

10. WP(C) 7404/2022

In the instant case, the State Level Committee in their meeting held on 10.02.2022 had rejected the case of the petitioner on the ground that the remaining service period of the deceased Govt. servant was less than 3 years. Page No.# 13/13 The minutes of the meeting dated 10.02.2022 of the State Level Committee and more particularly at Sl. No. 108 stands interfered with a direction to the State Level Committee to reconsider the case of the petitioner on the basis of Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 without insisting upon the requirement of clause-1 of the said Office Memorandum.

¶11In view of above observation and direction, the State Level Committee/District Level Committee for Compassionate Appointment as the case may be, upon certified copy of this order being served upon, the concerned head of the department as well as the Chairman of the State Level Committee/District Level Committee for Compassionate Appointment as the case may be shall reconsider the cases of the petitioners by taking into account the requirements in terms with the Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015 and more particularly to the principles stipulated therein without insisting up on the requirement of Clause-1 of the Office Memorandum dated 01.06.2015. The same shall be considered within a period of 2 (two) months from the date the certified copy is served upon as directed herein above.

¶12With the above observation and direction, the instant batch of writ petitions stands disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/13 GAHC010084512018 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2609/2018o CHUITYoBAISHYAo D/O-oLATEoCHAKRESWARoBAISHYA,oR/O-oVILL-oDHAMDHAMA,oP.O-oNIZo DHAMDHAMA,oP.S-oGHAGRAPAR,oDIST-oNALBARI,oASSSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM,o SECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPTT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTOR oSECONDARYoEDUCATION oKAHILIPARA oASSAM oGUWAHATI-o19 3:THEoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOL oNALBARIoDISTRICToCIRCLE oDIST-oNALBARI oASSAM 4:THEoSTATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEEoFORoCOMPASSIONATEoAPPOINTMENT oREP.oBYoITSoCHIRMAN oTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGHY-o6 5:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oNALBARI oCHAIRMANoOFoTHEoDISTRICToLEVELoCOMMITTEEo oNALBARI oASSAo Page No.# 2/13 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P K GOSWAMI Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU. Linked Case : WP(C)/3168/2022 BIKRAM NATH S/O- LATE GUNARAM NATH VILL.- JATAKIA NATH GAON P.O. JATAKIA DIST. SIVASAGAR ASSAM PIN- 785666. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS. REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (HIGHER) ASSAM GUWAHATI PIN- 781006. 2:THE DIRECTOR OF HIGHER EDUCATION KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI PIN- 781019. 3:THE DISTRICT LEVEL COMMITTEE SIVASAGAR DISTRICT REPRESENTED BY ITS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DIST. SIVASAGAR PIN- 785640. 4:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER CUM CHAIRMAN DISTRICT LEVEL COMMITTEE SIVASAGAR DIST. SIVASAGAR PIN- 785640. 5:THE PRINCIPAL CUM SECRETARY Page No.# 3/13 SIBSAGAR COLLEGE JOYSAGAR P.O. JOYSAGAR DIST. SIVASAGAR PIN- 785665. 6:THE STATE LEVEL COMMITTEE REPRESENTED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM GUWAHATI ASSAM PIN- 781006. ------------ Advocate for : MR. C BORUAH Advocate for : GA ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 5 ORS. Linked Case : WP(C)/7404/2022 JITU DAS S/O LT. MAINIRAM DAS R/O VILL- GHARMORA P.O.-GHARMORA P.S.-NORTH LAKHIMPUR DIST- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN-787032 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM STATE LEVEL SELECTION COMMITTEE ON COMPASSIONATE GROUND GUWAHATI-781006 2:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM PHE DEPARTMENT GUWAHATI-781006 3:THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL PERSONNEL (B) ASSAM Page No.# 4/13 GUWAHATI-6 4:THE CHIEF ENGINEER PUBLIC HEALTH ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT HENGARABARI HEALTH COMPLEX HENGARABARI ROAD GUWAHATI-781036 5:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER -CUM- CHAIRMAN DISTRICT LEVEL SELECTION COMMITTEE ON COMPASSIONATE GROUND LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN-787001 ------------ Advocate for : MR. B GOGOI Advocate for : GA ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS Linked Case : WP(C)/3639/2022 MEHBUB ALAM MAZUMDER S/O. LT. SAMSUL HOQUE MAZUMDER VILL. AND P.O. ALGAPUR PART-V P.S. ALGAPUR PIN-788150 DIST. HAILAKANDI ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS THROUGH- THE COMMISSIONER AND SECY. TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM EDUCATION (ELEMENTARY) DEPTT. GOVT. OF ASSAM GUWAHATI-781006. 2:THE DIRECTOR OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI-781019. 3:THE DISTRICT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER Page No.# 5/13 HAILAKANDI P.O. AND P.S. HAILAKANDI DIST. HAILAKANDI ASSAM. 4:THE DEPUTY INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS HAILAKANDI P.O. AND P.S. HAILAKANDI DIST. HAILAKANDI ASSAM. 5:THE DISTRICT LEVEL COMMITTEE FOR APPOINTMENT ON COMPASSIONATE GROUND REP. BY ITS DEPUTY COMMISSIONER HAILAKANDI DIST. HAILAKANDI ASSAM. ------------ Advocate for : MS. S SEAL Advocate for : SC EDU appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS Linked Case : WP(C)/7872/2019 BEDABROT SAIKIA S/O. LT. GUNIN SAIKIA R/O. SARULANGTHA P.O. DHANSIRI SARUPATHAR DIST. GOLAGHAT ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE LEVEL COMMITTEE FOR COMPASSIONATE APPOINTMENT AND 5 ORS. REP. BY ITS CHAIRMAN THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM GUWAHATI-781006. 2:THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM DEPTT. OF PERSONNEL Page No.# 6/13 PERSONNEL B GUWAHATI-06. 3:THE S