ABIRAM PEGU Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this writ petition, a grievance has been made in respect of two orders by which the monthly salary of the petitioner has been stopped and the petitioner has been transferred.

(2.) Adverting to the facts of the case, the petitioner was appointed as Assistant Teacher in Adarsha M.E./M.V. School at Dhemaji in the year 1995 and since then he has been serving as such. When his salary and allowances were not released, he had to approach this Court by filing the writ petition registered and numbered as Civil Rule No. 2418/96. The writ petition was disposed of by an order dated 29.05.1996 with a direction to the respondents to make an enquiry relating to the grievance made in the writ petition and in the event of finding the same to be correct an appropriate order should be passed for payment of salary and allowances. Pursuant thereto, necessary enquiry etc. were carried out and the petitioner was paid his salary and allowances w.e.f. 12.07.2000 on which date formal-order for release of his salary and allowances was passed. Being aggrieved by non-payment of arrear salary and allowances from the date of appointment, i.e., 08.06.1995, the petitioner approached this Court by filing yet another writ petition being W.P.(C) No. 345/03. Another teacher namely Shri Tarun Pegu also approached this Court on the same very ground by filing W.P.(C) No. 344/03.

(3.) Both the aforesaid writ petitions were admitted by this Court. As per the averments made in the writ petition, the respondent No. 3, i.e., District Elementary Education Officer (D.E.E.O.), Dhemaji on receipt of the notice from this Court, got annoyed with the petitioner. By his letter dated 24.04.2003, the said D.E.E.O. directed the petitioner to be present in his office on 29.04.2003 along with the copy of the writ petition. The petitioner duly appeared before him and the said D.E.E.O. warned the petitioner to withdraw the case which he refused to do. The same very D.E.E.O. again by his letter dated 03.05.2003 asked the petitioner to show cause as to why departmental action should not be taken against him for filing the-writ petition without informing the departmental authority. On receipt of the said show cause notice, the petitioner appeared before the said respondent and explained to him that the writ petition was filed claiming appropriate relief in respect of arrear salary and allowances. However, the respondent No. 3 was not satisfied with the explanation given and on many occasions the petitioner and said Shri Tarun Pegu were called to his office and put pressure to withdraw the writ petition. This was followed by issuance of Annexure- 4 letter dated 21.10.2003 asking the Head Master of the school of the petitioner to forward his Service Book which was duly produced by the said Head Master. Thereafter the same very respondent issued the impugned Annexure-5 letter to the Block Elementary Education Officer, Dhemaji to stop the monthly salary of the petitioner along with said Shri Tarun Pegu. Such action was taken against them for their approach to the Court allegedly in violation of the Departmental Service Rules. This led to the withdrawal of the case by Shri Tarun Pegu, the writ petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 344/03. According to the petitioner such a course of action was compelled to be adopted by Shri Tarun Pegu due to financial hardship faced by him for non-payment of salary and allowances. However, the petitioner did not fall in line and he continued to pursue his writ proceeding. As a result, the Annexure-7 impugned order was issued transferring the petitioner to another school.