JUDGMENT :

Sanjay Kumar Medhi, J.

Heard Shri P.C. Dey, learned counsel for the petitioner whereas the Department of Agriculture is represented by Ms. R. Bora, learned Standing Counsel.

2. The extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court conferred by Article 226 of the Constitution of India is being sought to be invoked by the petitioner, who has put to challenge an order dated 04.08.2022 passed by the Director of Agriculture by which the application for voluntary retirement has been rejected. The principal ground of such rejection is that the petitioner did not have the eligibility criteria of having completed 20 years of service.

3. Before going to the issue which has arisen for determination, the basic facts of the case can be put in a nutshell in the following manner.

4. The petitioner was appointed as an LDA on 26.10.1986 and was posted in the Office of the Executive Engineer, Jorhat Division of the Agriculture Department, Government of Assam. He was transferred to Dibrugarh in the year 2002. However, he had suffered from tuberculosis and accordingly had applied for medical leave. It is the case of the petitioner that his application for extension of medical leave was however not grante