Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2022 Supreme(Gau) 21

IN THE HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Achintya Malla Bujor Barua, J.
Debo Mali, D/o Late Arun Mali – Petitioner
Versus
The State of Assam Rep. Commissioner and Secretary To The Govt. Of Assam, Education Department and Ors. – Respondents
WP(C)/704 of 2022
Decided On : 08-02-2022

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Petitioner:Ms. R Kalita, Advocate

Point of Law: Compassionate appointment – Delay in filing application – Matter remitted for fresh consideration.

Headnote:
Service – Compassionate Appointment - Father of petitioner who was working as a Lab Bearer in College, died in harness - On his death, petitioner submitted an application for compassionate appointment before Principal, College - Principal of College instead of following regular procedure of forwarding said application before DLC concerned, had allowed petitioner to temporarily work as a Grade-IV employee in college - Such procedure adopted by Principal would have to be considered irregular and dehors procedure of law - Be that as it may, petitioner submitted another application for compassionate appointment - Subsequent application was placed before DLC of Kamrup(R) in its meeting held - By said meeting claim of petitioner for compassionate appointment was rejected citing reason that application was submitted after a gap of eight years of death of deceased.
Finding of the Court:
Subsequent application would be basically in nature of a reminder of earlier application which was filed - If any such application was required to have been placed before DLC, it ought to have been application which was submitted - Had the said application been placed before DLC, DLC could not have rejected the claim of petitioner on the ground of delay of eight years - Accordingly, rejection of claim of petitioner for compassionate appointment by DLC in its meeting stands interfered and matter is remanded back to the DLC of Karmup(R) for a fresh consideration by taking note of initial application - Further the DLC is directed to consider said application without insisting on any further reason of there being any delay for considering said application - In order to facilitate process petitioner to submit a duplicate copy of application before Principal of College, said one and Principal shall do needful to place same before next available DLC of district.
Result: Writ petition stands allowed

JUDGMENT :

Heard, Ms. R. Kalita, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. A.R. Tahbildar, learned counsel for the respondents No.1 and 4 being the authorities under the Higher Education Department of the Govt. of Assam and Ms. D.D. Barman, learned Senior Government Advocate for the respondents No.2, 3 and 5 being the Deputy Commissioner, Kamrup (R) and Chief Secretary to the Govt. of Assam respectively.

2. Considering the nature of the order proposed to be passed, notice need not required to be issued to the respondent No.6.

3. The father of the petitioner who was working as a Lab Bearer in Dakhin Kamrup College, Mirza died in harness on 01.12.2011. On his death, the petitioner submitted an application for compassionate appointment on 26.10.2012 before the Principal, Dakhin Kamrup College, Mirza. The Principal of Dakhin Kamrup College instead of following the regular procedure of forwarding the said application before the DLC concerned, had allowed the petitioner to temporarily work as a Grade-IV employee in the college. Such procedure adopted by the Principal would have to be considered irregular and dehors the procedure of law. Be that as it may, the petitioner submitted another application for compassionate appointment on 11.05.2019. The subsequent application dated 11.05.2019 was placed before the DLC of Kamrup(R) in its meeting held on 18.03.2020. By the said meeting dated 18.03.2020 the claim of the petitioner for compassionate appointment was rejected citing the reason that the application was submitted after a gap of eight years of the death of the deceased.

4. In view of the above, we are of the view that the subsequent application of 11.05.2019 would be basically in the nature of a reminder of the earlier application which was filed on 26.10.2012. If any such application was required to have been placed before the DLC, it ought to have been the application which was submitted on 26.10.2012. Had the said application been placed before the DLC, the DLC could not have rejected the claim of the petitioner on the ground of delay of eight years.

5. Accordingly, the rejection of the claim of the petitioner for compassionate appointment by the DLC in its meeting dated 18.03.2020 stands interfered and the matter is remanded back to the DLC of Karmup(R) for a fresh consideration by taking note of the initial application dated 26.10.2012. Further the DLC is directed to consider the said application without insisting on any further reason of there being any delay for considering the said application.

6. In order to facilitate the process the petitioner to submit a duplicate copy of the application dated 26.10.2012 before the Principal of Dakhin Kamrup College, Mirza and the Principal shall do the needful to place the same before the next available DLC of Kamrup(R) district.

Writ petition stands allowed as indicated above

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