Abdur Rahim Choudhury v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER Date : 02.08.2023 Heard Mr. B. Purkayastha, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. S. Baruah, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondents.

¶2The rejection of the candidature of the petitioner for appointment on compassionate ground by the 14th SLC pertaining to compassionate appointment to Home and Political Department held on 10.02.2022 is assailed in this writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

¶3The case of the petitioner is that his brother, namely, Late Muzibur Rahman Choudhury, who was working as Constable in 6th A.P.Bn. had died in harness on 09.11.2015, leaving behind the petitioner and his mother as only legal representatives. The petitioner had applied for appointment on compassionate ground by an application, which was considered by the DLC in its Page No.# 3/4 meeting held on 06.07.2020, recommending the petitioner for appointment in Grade-IV post. The application was then taken up by the SLC in its 14th meeting held on 10.02.2022. However, the candidature of the petitioner was rejected on the ground of being "under-qualified" by holding that the applicant is found to have passed Class-VII, whereas the minimum educational qualification required for the post of Grade-IV was Class-VIII passed.

¶4The learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner was otherwise Class-VIII passed, but due to bonafide mistake on part of the petitioner, he had annexed document relating to Class-VII pass. Accordingly, it is submitted that due to inadvertent mistake on part of the petitioner to enclose the Class-VIII pass certificate, he has been greatly prejudiced and therefore, one opportunity be granted to the petitioner to place his Class-VIII pass certificate, which should be considered by the concerned SLC.

¶5In this regard, the learned counsel for the petitioner has referred to the representation of the petitioner dated 17.12.2022 submitted before the Commandant, 6th A.P.Bn., by which Class-VIII pass certificate was produced before the said authority.

¶6Notwithstanding that this is a case where the petitioner has committed a mistake of not producing the Class-VIII pass certificate before the authorities along with the application filed for appointment on compassionate ground, the fact remains that the application was accompanied with a Class-VII pass certificate, which was considered by both the DLC as well as the SLC. Once the candidature is rejected on the ground which was otherwise valid, to allow the petitioner to rectify the mistake would create a judicial precedence by which Page No.# 4/4 any person who has given wrong information in the application would be allowed to rectify the incorrect statement made in the application with better or correct particulars.

¶7In the present case in hand, as many as 174 proposals were received by the SLC for appointment on compassionate ground. There is no material available before this Court that after exhausting of the recommendations made by the SLC in its meeting held on 10.02.2022, other vacancies are also available for appointment on compassionate ground.

¶8Be that as it may, as the petitioner has given incorrect particulars along with the application, the Court finds that insofar as the decision of the SLC is concerned, cannot be said to be bad in law. The Court is not inclined to exercise its inherent jurisdiction to permit the petitioner to rectify the mistake and file afresh application as a continuation of the previous application. The brother of the petitioner having died on 09.11.2015, if a fresh application is allowed to entertained, that would not be in consonance with the scheme of compassionate appointment in terms of OM dated 01.06.2015. Therefore, the Court is disinclined to entertain this writ petition and accordingly, this writ petition stands dismissed.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010017882023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/583/2023o ABDURoRAHIMoCHOUDHURYo S/O-oLT.oABDULoSATTARoCHOUDHURY,o(BROTHERoOFoLATEoMUZIBURo RAHMANoCHOUDHURY,oDIEDoINoHARNESSoONo09.11.2015oASo CONSTABLEATo6THoA.P.oBATTALION,oKATHAL,oCACHAR),oR/O-oVILL-o BHAIRABNAGAR,oP.O.oKRISHNAPUR,oP.S.oSILCHAR,oDIST.-oCACHAR,o ASSAM VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo5oORSo REP.oBYoTHEoCOMM.oANDoSECY.oTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,oHOMEoANDo POLITICALoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGHY-06 2:THEoSTATEoLEVELoCOMMITTEEo(FORoCOMPASSIONATEoAPPOINTMENT) oTOoBEoREP.oBYoTHEoCHIEFoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oDISPUR oGUWAHATI-o788006 3:THEoDIRECTORoGENERALoOFoPOLICE oASSAM oASSAMoPOLICEoHEADQUARTERS oULUBARI oGHY-07 4:THEoDY.oCOMMISSIONERoCUMoCHAIRMAN oOFoDISTRICToLEVELoCOMMITTEEo(DLC) oCACHAR oP.O.oSILCHAR oDIST.-oCACHAR oASSAM oPIN-o788001 Page No.# 2/4 5:THE SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE CACHAR P.O. SILCHAR DIST.- CACHAR ASSAM PIN- 788001 6:THE COMMANDANT 6TH A.P. BATTALION KATHAL DIST.- CACHAR ASSAM PIN- 78800 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A K DUTTA Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA