Nitumoni Boruah v. The State of Assam and 3 Ors

ORDER

08.11.2023 Heard Mr. N. Anand, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. P. Saikia, learned Government Advocate representing the respondent no. 2 and Ms. S. Chutia, learned Standing Counsel, Elementary Education Department representing the respondent nos. 1, 3 4 and 5.

¶2In brief, the case of the petitioner is that the father of the petitioner had died in harness on 04.02.2006 while serving as an Assistant Teacher in the Gharmara M.E. School in the district of Lakhimpur. The petitioner had applied for appointment on compassionate ground before the Office of the Deputy Inspector of Schools, Dhakuakhana which was forwarded to the Director of Elementary Education, Assam vide letter dated 30.08.2006. However, the Deputy Director of Elementary Education, Assam vide letter dated 21.05.2007 had returned the proposal for appointment on compassionate ground to the District Elementary Education Officer, Lakhimpur with a request to the said authority to submit the proposal before the District Level Committee as per Page No.# 3/4 Govt. Circular / Order.

¶3The grievance of the petitioner is that the application of the petitioner was never considered by any of the District Level Committee meeting held from time to time. Therefore, the petitioner had again written an application dated

22.08.2012 to the District Elementary Education Officer, Lakhimpur for considering her case for appointment on compassionate ground.

¶4As the application was never put up or considered by the District Level Committee, the petitioner had earlier approached this Court by filing a writ petition being WP(C)/5923/2023 which was withdrawn with liberty to approach again and accordingly, the present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction from the respondent authorities to place the case of the petitioner for consideration for appointment on compassionate ground in the next District Level Committee meeting.

¶5The non-communication of the status of the application of the petitioner by the District Level Committee on Compassionate Appointment, District - Lakhimpur and / or by the District Elementary Education Officer, Lakhimpur and / or non forwarding of petitioner's application before the District Level Committee cannot be appreciated. But having noticed that the application for appointment on compassionate ground was made by the petitioner during the year 2006-07, the petitioner has belatedly approached this Court after almost 16 years from the date of applying. Hence, this Court is of the considered opinion that the inordinate delay in approaching this Court has defeated equity. Therefore, this Court is not inclined to entertain this belated challenge to non-consideration of her application for compassionate appointment. Resultantly, this writ petition stands dismissed at the motion stage without issuance of notice to the respondents. Page No.# 4/4

¶6The learned Standing Counsel, Elementary Education Department and the learned Government Advocate shall send the downloaded copy of this order to the Deputy Commissioner cum Chairperson, District Level Committee on Compassionate Appointment, Lakhimpur and District Elementary Education Officer, Lakhimpur to take note of the displeasure of the Court in not dealing with the application for appointment on compassionate ground by the petitioner in its right earnest, which is in violation of the principles laid down in the case of Achyut Ranjan Das and Ors. Vs. State of Assam and Ors., reported in 2006 4 GLT 674. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010239082023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/6274/2023o NITUMONIoBORUAHo D/O-oLEKHANoBORUAH,o R/O-VILLAGEoGHARMARA,o P.O-oMACHKHUWA,o DIST-oLAKHIMPUR,oASSAM,oPIN-787053 VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo3oORSo THROUGH-oTHEoPRINCIPALoSECRETARY,oTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM,oELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o 781006. 2:DEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oCUMoCHAIRMAN o DISTRICToLEVELoCOMMITTEE o DIST-oLAKHIMPUR o PIN-787001 3:THEoDIRECTOR oELEMENTARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGHY-19. 4:THEoDEPUTYoDIRECTOR oELEMENTARYoEDUCATION Page No.# 2/4 ASSAM KAHILIPARA GHY-19. 5:THE DISTRICT ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OFFICER LAKHIMPUR PIN-78700 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. N ANAND Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA