ARDWIN LYNGDOH Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The saga involving the recruitment to the post of Assistant Teachers in Government Lower Primary Schools is sought to be continued and resurrected by way of the instant writ petition, wherein a report dtd. 22/2/2021, submitted by a Three Member Committee, pursuant to orders dtd. 22/9/2020 in WP(C) No. 195 of 2020, is being assailed by 66 writ petitioners.

(2.) The challenge this time around is however, limited to the findings of the Committee with regard to the age of the writ petitioners, 46 in number, who were declared by the Committee to be age barred and the rest 20, who were found to not possess the requisite marks, out of the total number of 66 writ petitioners.

(3.) It is to be noted that this issue, which has seen multiple and protracted litigation before this Court and before the Supreme Court, has its genesis in an advertisement dtd. 10/12/2008, whereby applications were invited by the Deputy Inspector of Schools for Recruitment to the post Assistant Teachers. The process of selection culminated in the appointment of 749 candidates, which came to be challenged by the unselected candidates by way of several writ petitions before the erstwhile jurisdictional High Court i.e. Gauhati High Court in the Shillong Bench, with the lead matter being WP(C) No. 106 (SH)/2010. The said writ petitions were then disposed of by a common judgment dtd. 21/10/2011, which apart for other findings, inter alia, directed for a CBI inquiry with the report to be submitted within a period of 3(three) months. This order came to be challenged by way of a bunch of writ appeals, with the lead writ appeal being No. WA No. 52 (SH) 2011 before a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court.