Ranjit Dutta v. The State of Assam and 6 Ors

ORDER Date : 24.03.2023 Heard Mr. N. Bora, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. R. Mazumdar, learned standing counsel for the Secondary Education Department, representing respondent nos.1, 2, 3 and 6 and Mr. G. Bokoliya, learned Govt. Advocate appearing for the respondent no.4. None appears on call for the respondent nos.5 and 7. Page No.# 3/5

¶2The case of the petitioner, in brief, is that he is a serving Assistant Teacher of Simaluguri Girls High School, Lakhimpur. He was appointed by the then Managing Committee of the school and he joined service on 25.05.1995 and at the relevant time, the petitioner was the 4th senior most Assistant Teacher of the school. The authorities in the Secondary Education Department had provincialised the service of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school by order dated 22.09.2014. However, it is claimed that one Brinda Boruah, who was the then second Assistant Teacher of the school had expired on 28.08.2013, but her service was inadvertently provincialized by the said order. The petitioner claims that after the date of death of Brinda Boruah, the petitioner's candidature ought to have been considered as he was the third senior most Assistant Teacher of the school and his service ought to have been provincialised. It is submitted that on 05.01.2005, the petitioner had submitted a representation before the Director of Secondary Education, Assam (respondent no.2) for consideration of his case for provincialisation and the school Managing Committee had also adopted a resolution on 05.02.2016, appointing the petitioner in the post which had fallen vacant on the death of Brinda Boruah. As the claim of the petitioner has not been considered, he has approached this Court by filing this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

¶3The learned standing counsel for the Secondary Education Department has referred to the case of Purnabati Brahma Vs. The State of Assam & 6 Ors., WA 283/2019, decided on 13.11.2019 and it is submitted that the exercise of provincialisation, which was done earlier as per the Assam Venture Educational Institutions (Provincialisation of Services) Act, 2011 (2011 Act for short) has been set aside and thereafter, new enactments, being the Page No.# 4/5 Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Teachers and Re-Organisation of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017 (2017 Act for short) was brought in place w.e.f. 11.04.2017. Hence, it is submitted that as per the law laid down in the said case, no relief can be given for provincialisation under the 2011 Act, which is not in force.

¶4On considering the projection made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner has prima facie satisfied the Court that had the respondent authorities considered that Brinda Boruah had expired on

28.08.2013, the service of the petitioner would have been provincialized as the 3rd senior most Assistant Teacher of the school. However, the service of Late Brinda Boruah, who had already expired, was provincialized.

¶5Under such circumstances, the Court finds that this is an appropriate case to relegate the petitioner for having his case re-considered and/or decided by the District Scrutiny Committee regarding his entitlement of provincialisation of service as the 3rd senior most Assistant Teacher as on 22.09.2014, the date when the service of teaching and non-teaching staff of the Simaluguri Girls High School was provincialized.

¶6Accordingly, the petitioner shall produce a certified copy of this order before the Deputy Commissioner, North Lakhimpur, Lakhimpur, who on receipt of the same, having regard to section 14 of the 2017 Act, shall consider the matter in accordance with law and shall place the case of the petitioner before the District Scrutiny Committee for considering of the entitlement of the petitioner for provincialisation of service in the event he meets the criteria under the said Act and to also consider if as on 22.09.2014, the petitioner was the 3rd Page No.# 5/5 senior most Assistant Teacher of the school.

¶7The District Scrutiny Committee is directed to decide the claim of the petitioner for provincialisation of his service within a period of 6 (six) weeks from the date of receiving certified copy of this order before the office of the Deputy Commissioner, North Lakhimpur, Lakhimpur. Consequential steps shall be taken within a further period of 2 (two) months thereafter.

¶8Writ petition stands disposed of to the extent as indicted above.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010115782016 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/4491/2016o RANJIToDUTTAo S/OoLT.oCHANDRAoDUTTAoR/OoVILL-oMAGHNUAH,oP.O.oPADMAPUR,oP.S.o BIHPURIAoDIST.oLAKHIMPUR,oASSAM. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoando6oORS.o REP.oBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.oOFoASSAM,o EDUCATIONoSECONDARYoDEPARTEMNT,oDISPURoGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoDIRECTORoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATION oASSAM oKAHILIPARA oGUWAHATIo-19 oDIST.oKAMRUPoM oASSAM. 3:THEoINSPECTORoOFoSCHOOLS oLAKHIMPURoDISTRICToCIRCLE oDIST.LAKHIMPUR oASSAM oPINo-o787001. 4:THEoDEPUTYoCOMMISSIONER oLAKHIMPUR oDIST.oLAKHIMPUR oASSAMoPINo-787001. 5:THEoHEADMASTER Page No.# 2/5 SIMALUGURI GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL LAKHIMPUR P.O. SIMALUGURI GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL LAKHIMPUR P.O. SIMALAGURI DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN - 784165. 6:THE DISTRICT SCRUTINY COMMITTEE OF LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT REP. BY ITS MEMBER SECRETARY I.E. THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS LAKHIMPUR DISTRICT CIRCLE LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN - 787001. 7:THE SCHOOL MANAGING COMMITTEE SIMALUGURI GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL LAKHIMPUR REP. BY ITS PRESIDENT P.O. SIMALUGURI DIST. LAKHIMPUR ASSAM PIN - 784165 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR.N BORAH Advocate for the Respondent : GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE KALYAN RAI SURANA