Chenehi Barman and 8 Ors v. The State of Assam and 5 Ors

ORDER

16.09.2024

Heard Shri R. Sarma, learned counsel for the petitioners. Also heard Shri P.N. Sharma, learned Standing Counsel, Elementary Education Department.

¶2Considering that this writ petition is of the year 2017 and noting the instructions received by the learned Standing Counsel, this writ petition is taken up for disposal at the admission stage.

¶3The petitioners who are 9 (nine) in numbers claimed to have been selected for appointment to the post of Assistant Teachers of L.P. Schools in the district of Lakhimpur. Subsequent to such selection, the petitioners were appointed as Assistant Teachers of various L.P. Schools under the Block Elementary Education Officer, Nowboicha in the district of Lakhimpur.

¶4It is also averred that the services of some of the petitioners were regularised and for the others, those were adjusted against vacancies arising from retirement / expiry of the earlier incumbents. The petitioners also claimed to have undergone Assam Junior Basic Training and after completion of the same, they were allowed to draw regular time scale of pay.

¶5The grievance of the petitioners were in connection with not releasing of their monthly salaries without any reasons and accordingly the writ petition was filed. Page No.# 4/4

¶6Shri Sarma, the learned counsel has submitted that non-payment of salaries to regularly appointed teachers who had also undergone the formalities of training subsequent to is wholly unreasonable and arbitrary. The learned counsel has however submitted that there are subsequent developments which have been intimated to him.

¶7Per contra, Shri P.N. Sharma, the learned Standing Counsel has submitted that similarly situated persons like that of the petitioners were found to be illegally appointed at one point of time and on such detection, initially, the salaries were stopped. However, when the issues were brought before this Court in various writ petitions including WP(C)/8478/2019, this Court had passed an order dated

02.03.2021 pursuant to which a detail exercise was made to resolve the matter. After such exercise, fresh appointments were offered to those incumbents who were found to have fulfilled the eligibility criteria. It is submitted that out of the 9 (nine) petitioners in the present case, 8 (eight) petitioners except the petitioner no. 9 have already been duly accommodated as teachers and such appointments have been offered and accepted. So far as the petitioner no. 9, Smti Sonalata Gogoi is concerned, as per the written instructions and the enclosures thereto, her case was not approved by the Government for accommodation.

¶8While the decision not to approve the case of the respondent no. 9 would still be open for challenge if so advised, there is no requirement for further adjudication of the writ petition so far as other petitioners are concerned.

¶9In view of the above discussions, the writ petition is closed, however with liberty to the respondent no. 9 to espouse her grievance, if so advised.

¶10The written instructions along with the enclosures are made part of the records. JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010032532017 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4537/2017o CHENEHIoBARMANoando8oORS.o ASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoKATHALGURIoL.P.oSCHOOL,oNOWBOICHAo BLOCK,oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR,oASSAM 2:oSMTIoMUHINIoBONIA oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoMAIDUMIAoKATHALGURIoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWoBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 3:oMISSoANUPAMAoBURAGOHAIN oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoJAPISAJIAoGOHAINoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 4:oMISSoSYADAoHASSINAoAKTARoBEGUM oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoSARIABARIoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 5:oSRIoBAKHARoBORPATRO oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoDIGHPUKHURIoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 6:oSMTIoBABYoBORA oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoNO.2oKUWNDANGAoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM PageoNo.#o2/4 7:oSRIoPRODIPoSABHAPANDIT oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoNO.o253oSEAJULYoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 8:oMD.oABDULoSIDDIQUE oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoNO.1oDIJUPATHARoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 9:oSMTIoSONALATAoGOGOI oASSISTANToTEACHERoOFoKADAMoHAJANGoL.P.oSCHOOL oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoando5oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o EDUCATIONoELEMENTARYoDEPTT.,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATI-19 oDIST.oKAMRUPoM oASSAM 3:THEoDISTRICToELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oLAKHIMPUR oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 4:THEoBLOCKoELEMENTARYoEDUCATIONoOFFICER oNOWBOICHAoBLOCK oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 5:THEoDEPUTYoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOLS oLAKHIMPUR oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAM 6:THEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM oFINANCEoDEPTT. Page No.# 3/4 DISPUR GUWAHATI- Advocate for the Petitioner : MR.S TAI, MR.R SARMA Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FINANCE, SC, ELEMENTARY EDUCATION,MR.B GOGOI BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANJAY KUMAR MEDHI