Research › Search › Judgment

Gauhati High Court · body

2016 DIGILAW 251 (GAU)

Shyam Babu Goala v. State of Assam

2016-04-01

T.VAIPHEI

body2016
JUDGMENT : In this writ petition, the petitioner is seeking the intervention of this Court for directing the respondent authorities to appoint him on compassionate ground. 2. The facts of the case may be briefly noticed at the outset. The father of the petitioner, the late Lalita Prasad Goala, died on 28-5-2009 when he was serving as a regular Assistant Teacher of Lower Primary M.E. School. Following the death of his father, the petitioner promptly filed an application for compassionate appointment to the respondent No. 5, who then forwarded it to the District Level Selection Committee (DLSC) for consideration. The DLSC in its meeting held on 31-7-2012 chalked out the vacancies reserved for compassionate appointment to be 33 for the year 2011-12, recommended 15 candidates including the petitioner for the post of Assistant Teacher against the clear vacant posts of 33 and forwarded the same to the State Level Selection Committee (SLSC) for approval. Another meeting was said to have been held by the DLSC on 28-5-2013 for considering candidates for compassionate appointment. According to the petitioner, the DLSC, having found 22 vacant posts coming under 5% quota against 38 candidates, recommended 20 candidates including the petitioner for compassionate appointment and forwarded the same to the SLSC for approval. It is the case of the petitioner that the minutes of the DLSC dated 28-5-2013 would show that the total vacancy up to 2012 under the 5% quota for compassionate appointment was 51. However, out of the 51 vacant posts, 14 candidates had been recommended on 15-3-2012, while another 15 candidates had been recommended for the appointment by the DLSC on 31-7-2012 thereby leaving 22 posts remaining unfilled up. Thereafter, the DLSC in its meeting held on 28-5-2013 recommended 20 candidates against the 22 vacant posts. Therefore, the DLSC in its meeting held on 31-7-2012 recommended 15 candidates including the petitioner against clear vacancies while the DLSC in its meeting held on 28-5-2013 recommended 20 candidates including the petitioner against the 22 vacant posts under the 5% quota. However, the State Level Selection Committee on appointment on compassionate ground (SLSC) in its meeting held on 1-4-2014 recommended only 6 candidates out of 35 candidates while declining to recommend the petitioner purportedly on the ground of lack of vacancy for compassionate appointment. However, the State Level Selection Committee on appointment on compassionate ground (SLSC) in its meeting held on 1-4-2014 recommended only 6 candidates out of 35 candidates while declining to recommend the petitioner purportedly on the ground of lack of vacancy for compassionate appointment. The rejection of his candidature was not immediately communicated to him, and he came to know it only on 3-9-2014 when he went to the Office of the respondent No. 4. It is contended by the petitioner that there are 35 vacant posts of L.P. School teachers for compassionate appointment under the Cachar district and he should have been appointed against one of these vacant posts of LP teachers. Aggrieved by this, this writ petition is now filed by him for appropriate relief. 3. In resisting the writ petition, the State-respondents, in their affidavit filed through the respondent No. 1, contend that the SLC in its meeting dated 1-4-2014 had considered the recommendations of the DLC meetings dated 31-7-2012 and 28-5-2013 recommending altogether 35 candidates for the posts of Assistant Teachers in LP Schools in Cachar district; that in that meeting the SLC considered the vacancy position of LP Schools in Cachar district up to 31-12-2013; that as per the report of District Elementary Education Officer, altogether 111 posts were vacant; that the SLC selected 6 candidates out of against 5% reservation for compassionate appointment out of the 111 vacancies and that the SLC was bound to recommend only 5% of the total vacancies which occured in a year for the purpose of reservation for compassionate appointment. Thus, the SLC in its meeting held on 1-4-2014 took into account the total vacancy position of the previous year i.e. from 1-1-2013 to 31-12-2013. This is how the State-respondents opposed the writ petition. 4. After hearing Mr. J. Islam, the learned counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. N. Sarma, the learned standing counsel for the Education (Elementary) Department, Assam, it becomes clear that the only question for consideration is whether the claim of the State-respondents that for the year 2013-2014, there were only 6 vacancies for appointment on compassionate appointment, is correct. 4. After hearing Mr. J. Islam, the learned counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. N. Sarma, the learned standing counsel for the Education (Elementary) Department, Assam, it becomes clear that the only question for consideration is whether the claim of the State-respondents that for the year 2013-2014, there were only 6 vacancies for appointment on compassionate appointment, is correct. The learned counsel for the petitioner refutes the stance taken by the State-respondents that there were only 6 posts of Assistant Teacher in LP School under Cachar district for appointment on compassionate grounds and submits that when the petitioner was selected by the DLC on 31-7-2012 for the post of Assistant Teacher in LP Schools along with others on compassionate grounds by applying 5% quota as available up to 2012, there were 33 posts against one of which he was recommended by the DLC. In support of his contention, he draws my attention to the recommendation of DLC with respect to Assistant Teacher (L.P.S.) in their meeting held on 31-7-2012 at Annexure-2 to the writ petition, the learned counsel points out that for the year 2011, the vacancy position was 875, out of which 44 posts being 5% thereof were reserved for compassionate appointment and after deducting 14 posts recommended by the DLC to be filled up on compassionate appointment, there were 44-14=30 clear vacancies left for compassionate appointment in the year 2013. According to the learned counsel, in the year 2012, the total vacancy position was 66 out of which 5% quota for compassionate appointment comes to 3 posts, to which is added 30 posts left over from the year 2011, and the total number of posts available for compassionate appointment are thus 30+3=33 posts. Thus, submits the learned counsel, the SLC has erroneously held that there was no vacancy to accommodate the petitioner and has in the process arbitrarily rejected the recommendation of the DLC for the appointment of the petitioner; this calls for the intervention of this Court to avoid grave miscarriage of justice. 5. Thus, submits the learned counsel, the SLC has erroneously held that there was no vacancy to accommodate the petitioner and has in the process arbitrarily rejected the recommendation of the DLC for the appointment of the petitioner; this calls for the intervention of this Court to avoid grave miscarriage of justice. 5. Per contra, the learned standing counsel for the State-respondents supports the impugned decision of the SLC and submits that the SLC in its meeting held on 1-4-2014 computed the vacancy position of L.P. School teachers in Cachar district up to 31-12-2013 and found that there were altogether 111 vacant posts and worked out the number of vacancies to be 6 posts out of the 111 posts against the 5% quota for compassionate appointment. He, therefore, submits that the petitioner could not be accommodated against these six vacancies earmarked for compassionate appointment, and the writ petition is devoid of merit and is liable to be dismissed. 6. It may noted that the petitioner was selected by the DLC in its meeting held on 31-7-2012 when the total number of vacant posts of Assistant Teachers for LP Schools under Cachar district was 941 posts; there were 875 posts available in the year 2011 whereas there was 66 vacant posts of LP Schools in the year 2012. This is borne out by the findings of the DLC in their meeting held on 31-7-2012. The DLC worked out the vacancies available for compassionate appointment @ 5% of the total vacant posts at 50; 14 posts were accordingly recommended for compassionate appointment in the year 2011 while 3 posts were recommended for the same in the year 2012. Therefore, in the remaining 33 vacant posts, the petitioner, among others, was recommended for compassionate appointment. It must not be overlooked that the father of the petitioner died in harness on 28-5-2009 and that the application for the appointment was filed by him in time i.e. on 11-2-2010. In that view of the matter, there is no difficulty in holding that when the father of the petitioner died or within the next two years of his death, there were enough vacancies to accommodate him for compassionate appointment. The State-respondents have apparently completely overlooked this glaring fact and has in the process erroneously decided that there was no vacancy to appoint the petitioner against the quota for compassionate appointment. The State-respondents have apparently completely overlooked this glaring fact and has in the process erroneously decided that there was no vacancy to appoint the petitioner against the quota for compassionate appointment. They should not have considered the vacancy position with reference to the period from 1-1-2013 to 31-12-2013 when the petitioner applied for the appointment on 11-2-2010. It is quite possible that the respondent authorities came to this arbitrary conclusion due to non-application of mind; the matter requires, therefore, reconsideration by them. 7. For what has been stated in the foregoing, the decision of the State Level Committee on compassionate appointment in its meeting held on 1-4-2014, in so far as it rejected the selection of the petitioner for appointment as LP School Teacher on compassionate ground in Cachar district is concerned, is hereby quashed. Consequently, the State Level Committee shall consider afresh the appointment of the petitioner as Assistant Teacher of LP Schools in the district of Cachar on compassionate ground in the light of the observations made elsewhere. It is made clear that if the vacancy for 2013-14 has been exhausted, he shall be considered for the appointment on any available vacancy against the quota for compassionate appointment in the subsequent years. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this judgment. No costs.