Probationers' discharge based on misconduct must follow Article 311(2) procedures, ensuring due process rights, and findings must not discriminate between candidates based on alleged pre-recruitment fraud.

JUDGMENT :

K.R. Surana, J.

1) By these set of 40 (forty) intra-court appeals, the appellants have assailed the common judgment and order dated 18.03.2020, passed by the learned Single Judge in a batch of 49 writ petitions [W.P.(C) Nos. 4198/2019 - Geetali Doley v. State of Assam & Ors., and 48 connected writ petitions], by which all the said writ petitions were dismissed.

2) It may be mentioned that a total of 49 (forty nine) writ appeals were filed. However, during the pendency of these appeals, the appellant in W.A. 127/2020 had expired. Moreover, it may also be mentioned that by a separate order, W.A. No. 27/2024 has been segregated, as the appellant therein, who is one of the accused in Special Case No. 5/2021, (arising out of Bhangagarh P.S. Case No. 159/2017), has been convicted.

3) Out of the remaining 47 writ appeals, it has been noted that 8 (eight) appellants had filed two writ petitions each, which were dismissed by the said common judgment under appeal. Therefore, these eight appellants, namely, Kavita Das, Kaushik Kalita, Harshajyoti Bora, Jayanta Kumar Nath, Hemanta Saikia, Jatindra Prasad Baruah, Dilip Kalita and Sabbira Imran have filed two separate writ appeals against dismissal of one their writ petitions, but against their second set of writ petitions, they have filed a common appeal, being WA 333/2021.Accordingly, 47 appeals have heard together.

4) The back-ground on which the writ petitions were filed by the appellants was that they were appointed in service pursuant to their selection through Combined Competitive Examination (Mains), 2013 and 2014, which was conducted by the APSC. On the basis of First Information Report lodged by one complainant, alleging that the accused person named therein had contacted the complainant and told her to pay a sum of Rs.10.00 lakh in consideration of her recruitment to a particular post in exercise which was being carried out by APSC. Accordingly, Dibrugarh P.S. Case No. 936/2016 was registered. In a trap laid, the FIR named accused was apprehended while receiving cash from the complainant. As per the charge-sheet and supplementary charge-sheets filed in that case, it appears that during investigation that was carried out, the then Chairman of APSC along with several other accused had colluded with several candidates including the writ petitioners and with each other and indulged printing fake answer-scripts, which were given to the writ petitioners to re-write answer-scripts again after the examination and replaced them with the original answer-scripts lying in the APSC strong-room; marks were found to be manipulated by using correction fluids and erasures and over-writing; the re- written answer-scripts either did not contain the signature of the invigilators or contained fake signatures, which did not match with the signatures of the concerned invigilators. All these were done for getting the writ petitioners selected in the CCE-2013 and CCE-2014 batch of APSC conducted examination. In course of time, the appellants were discharged from service and they have assailed their respective discharge by filing writ petitions, which were dismissed by the common judgment and order dated 18.03.2020. Resultantly, these appeals.

5) It may be stated that against all the writ petitioners, pursuant to investigation carried out in connection with Dibrugarh PS Case No. 936/2016, charge-sheets/ supplementary charge-sheets have been filed. Accordingly, the status of the writ petitioners in the present appeal, their status as accused in the said case and the charge-sheets where their names appear are as follows:-

ASSAM CIVIL SERVICE (JUNIOR GRADE)