Kamal Saikia v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 06-01-2023

Heard Mr. P.R. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. H. Sarma, learned Addl. Senior Government Advocate for the respondents No. 1, 3 and 6, respectively being the Chief Secretary to the Government of Assam and the Deputy Commissioner, Lahimpur. Also heard Ms. D.S. Neog, learned counsel for the respondents No. 4 and 5, being the authorities under the Irrigation Department of the Government of Assam.

¶2The father of the petitioner Nirmal Saikia who was an employee in the Irrigation Department at Nowbachia, Lakhimpur and was engaged as a Tractor Driver in the department died in harness on 21.03.2006 and on his death, the Page No.# 3/4 petitioner submitted an application for compassionate appointment on

05.06.2021. Being aggrieved to the extent that the application was not placed before the DLC, the petitioner has approached this Court.

¶3The respondents have taken a stand that earlier the elder brother of the petitioner Nitul Saikia had also made an application for compassionate appointment but was rejected and therefore a subsequent application by the petitioner being the younger brother would not be maintainable. A consideration arose on the aforesaid submission as to in what manner the application of the elder brother of the petitioner Nitul Saikia was rejected i.e. whether it was rejected on an inter-se financial comparison or it was rejected because of any other ineligibility.

¶4It is stated by the respondents upon obtaining the information that the application of the elder brother of the petitioner was rejected because it exceeded the 5% vacancy for compassionate appointment in the Irrigation Department. Consequently, under Clause 15 of the O.M. dated 01.06.2015, there appears a legal right of the elder of the petitioner to have his application also considered against vacancies in any other department. As the stand is that the application of the petitioner cannot be given consideration as because there was an earlier application by the elder brother of the petitioner and having arrived at a conclusion that the elder brother of the petitioner has a legal right to also be considered against vacancies in any other department, we direct the application of the petitioner being the younger brother be placed before the next available DLC of Lakhimpur district for consideration against any other vacancies in any other department that is in continuance of the legal right of the elder brother. It is stated that in the mean time, the elder brother of the petitioner may have been appointed in a Government service. If it is so, the DLC Page No.# 4/4 to examine the same and if yes, appropriate order in respect of the application of the petitioner may be passed. Writ petition stands disposed of as indicated above.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010254222022 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/8092/2022o KAMALoSAIKIAo S/O-oLATEoNIRMALoSAIKIA,o VILLAGE-oSOLMARI,oP.O.-oDOOLAHAT,o P.S.-oLALUK,oDISTRICT-oNORTHoLAKHIMPUR,o787031,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006,oASSAM. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM oIRRIGATIONoDEPARTMENT oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 oASSAM. 3:THEoCHAIRMAN oSTATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEE oREPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVERNMENToOFo ASSAM o DISPUR oGUWAHATI-o781006 oASSAM. 4:THEoCHIEFoENGINEER oIRRIGATIONoDEPARTMENT oCHANDMARI oGUWAHATI-o781003 oASSAM. Page No.# 2/4 5:THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER IRRIGATION DEPARTMENT NORTH LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT- LAKHIMPUR ASSAM. 6:THE DISTRICT LEVEL COMMITTEE REPRESENTED BY THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER NORTH LAKHIMPUR LAKHIMPUR P.O.- NORTH LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT- LAKHIMPUR ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR P R SARMA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA