SHYAM BABU GOALA Vs. STATE OF ASSAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) 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. 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.