Sanjoy Das v. The State of Assam and 7 Ors

ORDER

11.09.2024

¶1Heard Mr. S. Chauhan, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. I. Borthakur, learned Standing Counsel for the Forest Department. Mr. A. Chaliha, learned counsel appears for the respondent no.8.

¶2Having regard to the nature of the case projected by the petitioner, the writ petition is taken up for disposal at this stage with the consent of the learned counsels for the parties.

¶3The petitioner has come before this Court for the second time. The earlier writ petition being WP(C) 6870/2017 was disposed of vide order dated

13.11.2017, by which this Court had directed the State respondents to examine the case of the petitioner and grant him the benefit as contained in paragraph-22 of the Writ Appeal 45/2014 (State of Assam vs. Upen Das).

¶4It is the case of the petitioner that despite the said direction, the respondents have failed to grant him fixed pay w.e.f. 23.01.2001 and revise the same from time to time in the minimum scale of pay w.e.f. 01.08.2017, as directed by this Court in the case of Upen Das (supra).

¶5The petitioner in support of his claim has also filed an additional affidavit, Page No.# 4/4 by which he has annexed a communication dated 05.03.2024 made by the Divisional Forest Officer (in short DFO), Karimganj Division, Karimganj to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (in short PCCF) and Head of Forests Force, Assam enclosing the name of the two casual workers including the petitioner showing the petitioner to have been engaged from January 1993 and was still working on work-charged basis.

¶6Considering the certification made by the DFO concern, this Court deems fit and appropriate to relegate the matter back to the PCCF, who shall place the same before the constituted Verification Committee to verify the claim of the petitioner to get the minimum scale of pay within a period of 3 (three) weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. The Committee concerned upon getting all the relevant materials shall consider the claim of the petitioner and if the petitioner is found to be eligible to be given the minimum scale of pay, in view of rendering his work since the year 1993, consequential benefit should be given to him within a period of 1 (one) month thereafter.

¶7With the above observations and directions, the writ petition stands disposed of.

¶8Liberty is granted to the petitioner to submit a copy of the writ petition with all the annexures and any other documents in support of his claim before the PCCF along with the certified copy of this order.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010094412023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/2646/2023o SANJOYoDASo S/O-oLT.oSAMARJIToDAS,o VILLAGE-oSADARASHI,o P.O.-oSADARASHI,oP.S.-oKARIMGANJ,o DISTRICT-oKARIMGANJ,oASSAM,o PIN-o788709. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo7oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,o ENVIRONMENToANDoFORESToDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-o781006. 2:THEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESTSoANDoHEADoOFo FORESToFORCE oASSAM oARANYAoBHAWAN oPANJABARI o GUWAHATI-o781037. 3:THEoADDL.oPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESTo(AFFTN)-CUM-o CHAIRMAN oCOMMITTEEoFORoVERIFICATIONoOFoTHEoSTATUSoOFoLEFToOUToCASUALo WORKERS o O/O.oTHEoPRINCIPALoCHIEFoCONSERVATORoOFoFORESTSoANDoHEADoOFo FORESToFORCE oASSAM o Page No.# 2/4 ARANYA BHAWAN PANJABARI GUWAHATI- 781037. 4:THE PRINCIPAL CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS (T) LOWER ASSAM ZONE GUWAHATI- 781001. 5:THE CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS SOUTHERN ASSAM CIRCLE SILCHAR DISTRICT- CACHAR ASSAM PIN- 788001. 6:THE DIVISIONAL FOREST OFFICER KARIMGANJ FOREST DIVISION P.O.- KARIMGANJ DISTRICT- KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN- 788710. 7:THE RANGE OFFICER SADAR RANGE KARIMGANJ P.O.- KARIMGANJ DISTRICT- KARIMGANJ ASSAM PIN- 788710. 8:THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT GOVT. OF ASSAM REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY ASSAM DISPUR GUWAHATI- 781006 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR S CHAUHAN, MR N ALAM,MR. P MAZUMDER Advocate for the Respondent : SC, FOREST, SC, FINANCE Page No.# 3/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE NELSON SAILO