Gajendra Singh v. The State of Assam and 4 Ors

ORDER Date : 23.09.2024

¶1Heard Mr. R Bora, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A Phukan learned counsel for the respondent No.1, Mr. G Bokolian learned counsel for respondent Nos.2, 3 & 4, and Mr. C Sarma learned counsel for respondent No.5.

¶2Aggrieved by the order dated 02.09.2023 by means of which, the caste certificate of the petitioner was cancelled, the present writ petition is filed.

¶3The contention of the writ petitioner is that the impugned Page No.# 3/6 order dated 02.09.2023 has been passed in most arbitrary and illegal manner and in violation of the law laid down by the hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Kumari Madhuri Patil Vs. State of Maharashtra and others reported in (1994) 6 SCC 241.

¶4The caste certificate was issued to the petitioner on

02.09.2023 by the Deputy Commissioner, West Karbi Anglong district certifying that the petitioner is Koiri(Tea Garden /Ex Garden Tribe/Tea Garden Labour/Ex-Tea Garden Ardent Tribes, which is recognized as Other Backward Classes (OBC)/More Other Backward Classes (MOBC) by the Govt. of Assam.

¶5Such certificate issued was cancelled by the Assistant Commissioner, West Karbi Anglong, district by the impugned order dated 03.10.2023 on the ground that the petitioner's certificate was issued in absence of the recommendation from the Chah Janajati Jatiya Sanmilani, West Karbi Anglong which is required as per the Department of Social Justice Empowerment's Letter No.Ecf-228962/23 dated nil May, 2023.

¶6As per the impugned order, the petitioner has not submitted any recommendation from Chah Janajati Jatiya Sanmilani, West Karbi Anglong, nor any relevant document showing that father or fore father of the petitioner were ex-tea garden labourers and he has also not submitted the physical caste certificate issued earlier.

¶7The respondent State has filed an affidavit taking the similar stand, however, it is admitted that the petitioner was not given any opportunity of hearing before passing of the impugned order. Page No.# 4/6

¶8The fact also remains that a caste certificate of OBC/MOBC was issued by the Sub Divisional Officer (C), Hamren Sub Division Hamren certifying that the petitioner belongs to Koiri ex-tea garden tribe. Therefore, one of the reasons of cancellation of the caste certificate is that the petitioner had not submitted the earlier certificate issued in his favour. However, if the impugned order is seen, it is clearly discloses that the petitioner had submitted along with his application the caste certificate earlier issued on 12.09.1995. Therefore, this part of the impugned order is not based on the materials placed before it. Therefore, it is nothing but a perversity.

¶9Though the application filed by the petitioner did not contain a certification from Chah Janajati Jatiya Sanmilani, West Karbi Anglong in terms of notification dated 29.03.2022, however, without hearing the petitioner the authorities could not have cancelled the certificate issued in favour of the petitioner, more particularly, when the petitioner is having a caste certificate issued on 12.09.1995. Until and unless such caste certificate issued in earlier point of time is held to be fraudulent or non-existent, such ground could not have been the reason for setting aside the order.

¶10Another aspect of the matter is that the principles of natural justice is not followed. The principles of natural justice mandates that a reasonable opportunity must be given to a person before taking any action against him. The adjudicating authority must disclose all the material placed before it and must give reasonable opportunity to the affected to submit his/ their case. A fair hearing means that a person against whom an adverse order is passed should Page No.# 5/6 be informed of the charges against him giving him an opportunity to submit his explanation to the charges and the person is also have a right to know the material on the basis of which the allegation is proposed to be decide.

¶11Law is by now well settled that until and unless the adherence of principles of natural justice is excluded, every action which results in civil consequences must follow due procedure of principles of natural justice which has not been followed in this case. On this count alone the impugned decision of the Deputy Commissioner is liable to be set aside.

¶12Be that as it may, as the petitioner did not have any opportunity to place its stand before cancellation of certificate and therefore, in the considered opinion of this court, the impugned order is liable to be interfered for non adherence of principles of natural justice.

¶13Accordingly, in the totality of the matter, the impugned order dated 03.10.2023 passed by the Assistant Commissioner, Karbi Anglong district, Hamren stands set aside. However, it is provided that if the respondent authority still wants verification or any doubt as regards the certificate issued already to the petitioner, they may issue a notice to the petitioner to place his defence and thereafter they may pass an appropriate order, if so advised.

¶14It is made clear that the matter is not relegated to the caste scrutiny committee is terms of the decision of Madhuri Patil (supra), for the reason that the caste certificate has been cancelled by Page No.# 6/6 the authority for want of document and not for the reason that the petitioner does not belong to OBC or MOBC.

¶15With the aforesaid, the writ petition stands allowed.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/6 GAHC010238012023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6219/2023o GAJENDRAoSINGHo SONoOFoRAMNIHORAoSINGH,o RESIDENToOFoVILLAGE-oWATIZURoNO.o2,o PO-oFORESToBAZAR,oPS-oKHERONI,o DIST-oWESToKARBIoANGLONG,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo4oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM,o GENERALoADMINISTRATIVEoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oJANATAoBHAWAN,oDIST.-oKAMRUP(M),o ASSAM. 2:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oWESToKARBIoANGLONG oHAMREN oDIST.-oWESToKARBIoANGLONG o ASSAM. 3:THEoSUB-DIVISIONALoOFFICER(CIVIL) oWESToKARBIoANGLONG oHAMREN oDIST-oWESToKARBIoANGLONG o ASSAM. 4:THEoASSISTANToCOMMISSIONER oWESToKARBIoANGLONG oHAMREN Page No.# 2/6 P.O. AND P.S.- HAMREN DIST.- WEST KARBI ANGLONG ASSAM. 5:THE STATE LEVEL CASTE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM DISPUR DIST- KAMRUP(M) ASSAM Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. R BORA, MR. D GOGOI,MR. D. BORAH Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM, SC, GAD,MS. S BARUAH (R-2 TO R-4),JR. GA, ASSAM,MR R M DAS (R-5),SC, SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN DEV CHOUDHURY