SPANDAN DAS Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. BD Konwar, learned senior counsel for the petitioners, Mr. P Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents in the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation (AFDC) and Mr. TC Chutia, learned Additional Senior Government Advocate for the respondent No. 1 in the Fisheries Department.

(2.) All the petitioners herein were engaged as per orders of the respondent No. 3 namely the Managing Director of AFDC on contractual/daily wage basis and were posted at various regions, locations, offices under the AFDC. According to the respondents, the engagements were on a temporary basis inasmuch as, the corporation found that there were insufficiency of employees in augmenting the fish production of the corporation.

(3.) The petitioners are aggrieved to the extent that the respondent authorities have stopped paying their salaries from the months of October/November, 2021 as the case may be. Some of the petitioners were issued show cause notices dtd. 3/3/2022, wherein they were informed that as per the records maintained by the AFDC, their appointments in the corporation were illegal and without following the proper Rules and Regulations of recruitment process of the Government of Assam i.e. without any advertisement and interview. Moreover, it was also alleged that the recruitment of the petitioners were in violation of Sec. 7 of the AFRBM Act. Accordingly, the petitioners were asked to give a written reply as to why they should not be terminated from their services.