Joydeb Das v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 20/01/2023 Suman Shyam, J

Heard Mr. S. Bikash, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. M. Bhattacharjee, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate, Assam, appearing for the respondent nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 & 7 and Mr. P. Sarmah, learned Standing Counsel, AFDC, appearing for the respondent nos. 4 and 5. The allegation made in this Public Interest Litigation (PIL) is pertaining to the 173 numbers of illegal appointments made by the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd. The petitioner has alleged that the services of all the 173 candidates illegally appointed by the AFDC have already been terminated but till today, no action has been taken against the erring officials, who are guilty of criminal misconduct. Therefore, a prayer has been made by the petitioner to direct the respondents to initiate high level enquiry by the CBI or any other independent agency to enquire into the matter and take appropriate action. It appears that the petitioner had lodged a formal complaint on 21/07/2022 before the Chief Minister's Special Vigilance Cell, Assam and thereafter, again on 16/08/2022 another complaint was lodged by him before the Officer-in-Charge of the Vigilance and Anti Corruption Police Station, Page No.# 3/3 Sreemantapur, Guwahati. We also find that the Managing Director of the AFDC had himself lodged a complaint on 23/09/2022 before the Officer-in-Charge-cum Deputy Superintendent of Police, CID, Ulubari, Guwahati, Assam. Mr. Sarmah submits that based on the complaint lodged by the MD of AFDC, a case has been registered on 23/09/2022 itself bearing CID PS case No. 17/2022 under sections 120(B)/420/467/468/471/409 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the matter is being investigated by the CID, Assam. Mr. Sarmah has produced a copy of the communication dated 19/12/2022 issued by the Managing Director of the AFDC Ltd. in support of his above contention. It appears that the CID PS case No. 17/2022 was registered on the basis of the complaint made by the Managing Director of AFDC and the matter is under investigation. If that be so, the primary grievance expressed in this PIL appears to have been addressed. Therefore, nothing survives for adjudication in this PIL at this stage. We, however, hasten to note herein that it may so happen that even during the course of investigation, it might be found that the investigation is not being conducted in the right earnest and in accordance with law. In such an eventuality, there may be a fresh ground for this Court to look into the matter and if necessary, monitor the investigation, if a proper case is made out on facts. Therefore, giving liberty to the petitioner to approach this Court once again as and when a fresh cause of action arises, we close the PIL by providing that the authorities shall ensure that the investigation in the CID PS case No. 17/2022 is conducted in accordance with law and brought to its logical conclusion without undue delay. With the above observation, the PIL stands closed.

JUDGE JUDGE sukhamay Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/3 GAHC010236382022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oPIL/69/2022o JOYDEBoDASo S/OoLATEoKARUNAMOYoDAS,oHOUSEoNO.16,oKUSHALoKONWARoROAD,o NEARoMAYURoKRISHNAoCINEMAoHALL,oAMBARIoFATASHIL,oGUWAHATI-o 781025. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo6oORS.o REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oDEPARTMENToOFoFISHERIES oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. 3:THEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY oHOMEoANDoPOLITICALoDEPARTMENT oGOVERNMENToOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-781006. 4:THEoASSAMoFISHERIESoDEVELOPMENToCORPORATIONoLIMITED oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oCHACHAL oVIPoROAD oGUWAHATI-781036. 5:THEoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR oASSAMoFISHERIESoDEVELOPMENToCORPORATIONoLIMITED oCHACHAL Page No.# 2/3 VIP ROAD GUWAHATI-781036. 6:THE CHIEF MINISTERS SPECIAL VIGILANCE CELL SRIMANTAPUR GUWAHATI- 781007 REPRESENTED BY ITS SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE. 7:THE OFFICER IN-CHARGE VIGILANCE AND ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICE STATION SRIMANTAPUR GUWAHATI- 781007 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. R K D CHOUDHURY Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUMAN SHYAM HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE SUSMITA PHUKAN KHAUND