Syed Tafikuddin Ahmed v. The Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. (Apdcl) and 7 Ors

O R D E R

07.09.2023.

Heard Mr. B.K. Das, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. D. Nath, learned standing counsel, Assam Power Generation Company Limited (APGCL) appearing for the respondent Nos.3 & 4, Mr. S.P. Sharma, learned standing Page No.# 4/6 counsel, Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) appearing for the respondent Nos.1 & 2 and Mr. R.B. Gohain, learned counsel for the respondent Nos.6—8. This Interlocutory Application has been filed for impleadment of the opposite parties as respondents in the WP(C) No.7448/2019. The writ petition was filed by the petitioner putting to challenge the selection and subsequent appointment made to the post of Assistant Accounts Officer in the APGCL, namely the respondent Nos.3 & 4. The claim of the petitioner is that during the selection process, he was not awarded marks in respect of Question Id Nos.10343, 10345, 10337 and 10338, although according to the petitioner, the answer keys were correct. It is the case of the petitioner that in the event the appropriate marks are allotted to the petitioner in respect of these question Id numbers, he would have scored higher marks and he would have been included in the Select List. The said grievance of the petitioner ventilated before the Respondent Authorities have not been addressed to by the respondent Department by referring the matters to the Subject Experts, if required, to verify whether the answers given by the petitioner, in respect of the questions referred above are correct or incorrect. It is the submission of learned counsel for the petitioner that in the event the Writ Petition is allowed, then the person who was appointed through the selection process and was at the bottom of the Select List, his or her appointment may have to be interfered with and accordingly, this I.A. has been filed for impleadment of the opposite parties as respondents in the Writ Petition. It is submitted by Mr. D. Nath, learned standing counsel of the APGCL, Page No.# 5/6 appearing for the respondent Nos.3 & 4 that the opposite party No.5 Sri Rajdeep Bora had since resigned from his office on 06.02.2021 and it is submitted that the post which was held by Sri Rajdeep Bora has not yet been filled up by any recruitment process. That apart, it is submitted that the sanctioned cadre strength of the Assistant Accounts Officer is 20 and as on date, men in position are 10. The opposite party Nos.6—8 have, in the meantime been promoted to the next higher post. Mr. R.B. Gohain, learned counsel appearing for respondent Nos.6—8 has filed an objection opposing the prayer for impleadment. Mr. S.P. Sharma, learned standing counsel, APDCL appears for the respondent Nos.1 & 2, submits that the respondent Nos.1 & 2 were the authorities who have conducted the selection process and set the question papers. Having heard the learned counsels for the parties and considering the submission that the sanctioned cadre strength of the Assistant Accounts Officer is 20 and as on date, men in position are 10, it will meet the ends of justice, if a direction is passed to the respondent authorities, more particularly the respondent Nos.3 & 4 to keep one post of Assistant Accounts Officer vacant till disposal of the WP(C) No.7448/2019. The said post shall not be filled up, without leave of the Court. Since the petitioner has challenged the Selection Process for the selection undertaken for the post of Assistant Accounts Officer, direction of this Court to keep one post vacant will safeguard the interests of the petitioner. Under such circumstances, we do not think at this stage the respondent Nos.6— 8 need to be arrayed as party respondents, in view of the statement made by the learned counsel for the respondent Nos.3 & 4, regarding the availability of Page No.# 6/6 sufficient numbers of posts of Assistant Accounts Officer in the APGCL. In that view of the matter, the I.A. stands disposed of. As directed above, one

(1) post of Assistant Accounts Officer in the Assam Power Generation Company Limited (APGCL) shall not be filled up until further orders or till the disposal of the WP(C) No.7448/2019. The I.A. accordingly stands disposed of, in terms of the above.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010237842022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oI.A.(Civil)/3453/2022o SYEDoTAFIKUDDINoAHMEDo S/O-oSYEDoMAMTAZoALI,oR/O-oVILL-oTITKURI,oP.O-oTITKURI,oDIST-o KAMRUP(R),oPIN-o781354 VERSUSo THEoASSAMoPOWERoDISTRIBUTIONoCOMPANYoLTD.o(APDCL)oANDo7oORSo BIJULEEoBHAWAN,oPALTANoBAZAR,oGUWAHATI-o781001,oTOoBEoREP.oBYo ITSoDIRECTORo(PERSONAL) 2:CHIEFoGENERALoMANAGER oAPDCL oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oPALTANoBAZAR oGUWAHATI-o781001 3:ASSAMoPOWERoGENERATIONoCORPoLIMITED oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oPALTANoBAZAR oGUWAHATI-o781001 oTOoBEoREP.oBYoITSoMANAGINGoDIRECTOR 4:GENERALoMANAGER oAPGCL oBIJULEEoBHAWAN oPALTANoBAZAR oGUWAHATI-o781001 5:SHRIoRAJDEEPoBORA oC/OoINDRAJIToBORA oGOHAINoTEKELAoGAON oLAGUAoBORAoCHOOK oP.O.oJORHAT oDIST.oJORHAT Page No.# 2/6 ASSAM PIN 785001. 6:SHRI RITTIKA PAUL C/O SUBIR PAUL PROBIR MARKET OPP. ASTC BUS STAND PALTANBAZAR P.O. REHABARI PALTANBAZAR DIST. KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN 781008. 7:SHRI NISHA SMITA DAS C/O ROBIN CHANDRA DAS R/O VILLAGE BALAPUKHURI P.O. CHHAYGAON DIST. KAMRUP ASSAM PIN 781124. 8:SHRI TINKU DAS C/O BALEN CHANDRA DAS AMBARI FATASHIL SEWALI PATH TULA FACTORY H/ NO. 06 P.O. AMBARI FATASIL DIST. KAMRUP(M) ASSAM PIN NO. 781025 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. B K DAS Advocate for the Respondent : SC, APDCL Linked Case : WP(C)/7448/2019 SYED TAFIKUDDIN AHMED S/O- SYED MAMTAZ ALI R/O- VILL- TITKURI P.O- TITKURI DIST- KAMRUP(R) PIN- 781354 VERSUS Page No.# 3/6 THE ASSAM POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANY LTD. (APDCL) AND 3 ORS BIJULEE BHAWAN PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI- 781001 TO BE REP. BY ITS DIRECTOR (PERSONAL) 2:CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER APDCL BIJULEE BHAWAN PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI- 781001 3:ASSAM POWER GENERATION CORP LIMITED BIJULEE BHAWAN PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI- 781001 TO BE REP. BY ITS MANAGING DIRECTOR 4:GENERAL MANAGER APGCL BIJULEE BHAWAN PALTAN BAZAR GUWAHATI- 781001 ------------ Advocate for : MR. B K DAS Advocate for : SC APDCL appearing for THE ASSAM POWER DISTRIBUTION COMPANY LTD. (APDCL) AND 3 ORS BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SOUMITRA SAIKIA