RANJIT URANG Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. P.J. Saikia, learned senior counsel for the petitioners and Mr. B.J. Talukdar, learned senior counsel for the respondents in the Revenue and Disaster Management Department of the Government of Assam. Also heard Ms. R.B. Bora, learned counsel for the respondent No. 4 being the Director, Land Records and Surveys, BTC, Kokrajhar.

(2.) It is stated that an advertisement No. TPR-74/2016-67-69 dtd. 2/2/2016 was issued inviting applications, amongst others, for 68 numbers of vacant posts of Gaonburah in the Baksa district of BTC. The writ petitioners herein had participated in the selection process pursuant to the advertisement dtd. 2/2/2016. According to the petitioners, without bringing the advertisement of 2/2/2016 to its logical end, a subsequent advertisement dtd. 10/12/2018 had been issued by the Director, Land Records and Surveys, BTC, Kokrajhar. The advertisement of 10/12/2018 follows the age limit prescribed by the notification dtd. 10/4/2018, wherein the minimum age is prescribed to be 35 years. The grievances of the petitioners are, firstly, the advertisement of 10/12/2018 had been issued without bringing a logical end to the earlier advertisement dtd. 2/2/2016 and secondly, the minimum age provided by the notification dtd. 10/4/2018 could not have been adopted, inasmuch it is a continuous selection process as per the earlier advertisement dtd. 2/2/2016. According to the writ petitioners, as the selection process had already been initiated by the advertisement dtd. 2/2/2016 providing for a minimum age of 21 years, therefore, following the procedure of law in the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Y.V. Rangaiah and Ors. Vs. J. Sreenivasa Rao and Ors. reported in (1983) 3 SCC 284, the rules prevailing as regards the minimum age as on 2/2/2016 would govern the selection process and not the minimum age prescribed by the notification dtd. 10/4/2018. With the aforesaid grievance, the writ petition i.e. WP (C) No. 5665/2019 had been instituted, wherein the reliefs sought for is for setting aside the selection process as per the advertisement dtd. 10/12/2018 with a further direction to issue a fresh advertisement in terms of a subsequent notification dt. 19/7/2019, wherein the minimum prescribed age limit had again been brought down to 25 years.

(3.) Taking note of the prima facie case said to be made out by the petitioners, an interim order dtd. 7/8/2019 had been passed, whereby there was an interim direction not to declare the results of the selection process of Gaonburah for the district of Baksa, pursuant to the advertisement dtd. 10/12/2018. The Director, Land Records and Surveys, BTC being aggrieved by the interim order dtd. 7/8/2019 had instituted I.A.(Civil) No. 1120/2022 for vacating the interim order dtd. 7/8/2019.