Gauhati High Court
Nur Mahammad Ali vs The State Of Assam And 4 Ors on 1 September, 2021
Page No.# 1/4
GAHC010126072021
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : WP(C)/4235/2021
NUR MAHAMMAD ALI
S/O- LT. BAHAZ ALI, VILL. AND P.O. AMINPARA, DIST.- UDALGURI, BTR,
ASSAM- 784514
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 4 ORS.
REP. BY THE PRINCIPAL SECY. TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, SECONDARY
EDUCATION DEPTT., DISPUR, GHY-06
2:THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION
ASSAM
KAHILIPARA
GHY-19
3:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS
UDALGURI DISTRICT CIRCLE
UDALGURI
BTR
ASSAM- 784509
4:THE PRINCIPAL
ROWTA COLLEGE SR. SECONDARY SCHOOL
ROWTA CHARIALI
UDALGURI
BTR
ASSAM- 784508
5:THE DIRECTOR
EDUCATION DEPTT.
BTC
KOKRAJHA
Page No.# 2/4
Advocate for the Petitioner : S HAQUE
Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU.
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ACHINTYA MALLA BUJOR BARUA
JUDGMENT & ORDER (ORAL)
Date : 01-09-2021
Heard Mr. M Hoque, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Ms. N M
Sarma, learned counsel for the respondents no. 1 and 2 being the authorities under
the Secondary Educational Department, Government of Assam and Ms. R B Bora,
learned counsel for the respondents No.3 and 5 being the authorities under the BTC
and.
2. Considering the nature of the order proposed to be passed, we deem it
appropriate that notice need not be issued to the respondent No.4 for the present.
3. The petitioner Nur Mahammad Ali was appointed as a Lecturer in the subject
Advance Assamese being the first post at Rowta College Senior Secondary School,
Rowta on 01.09.1997. The grievance raised by the petitioner is that although the other
teachers in the school concerned were subjected to the process of provincialisation
under the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Teachers and Re-
Organisation of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017 (for short, the Act of 2017), the
respondents have not given a due consideration to the claim of the petitioner, although
the services of other teachers of the school have been provincialised.
4. We have been taken through the order dated 04.02.2021 of the Director of
Secondary Education Assam which includes the names of the schools and the teachers
thereof whose services have been provincialised either as a teacher or a tutor. In
respect of Rowta College Senior Secondary School, Rowta, the list of teachers who
were provincialised are available at page 19 (Annexure-G) of the writ petition which is
a part of the order dated 04.02.2021. From the said list, it is taken note of that eight
Page No.# 3/4
teachers of the school have been provincialised and all of them are teachers of
subjects other than the subject Advance Assamese. We have also gone through the
statement available at Annexure-E (page 17 to the writ petition) which shows the
number of students in different subjects in Rowta College Senior Secondary School,
Rowta. A reading of the said statement shows that in the final year examinations of
the three previous years, in the subject Advance Assamese, 58 students had appeared
in the year 2017 and 33 students had passed out. In the year 2018, 80 students had
appeared and 50 students had passed out and in the year 2019, 36 students had
appeared and 22 students had passed out. The pass percentage of students in the
subject Advance Assamese was 56.90% in 2017, 62.50% in 2018 and 61.11% in the
year 2019.
5. The entitlement of provincialisation of teachers in a Venture Higher Secondary
School or a Venture Senior Secondary School is provided in Section 3(1)(vii) of the Act
of 2017. Section 3(1)(vii) of the Act of 2017 is extracted as below:
"In addition to the provision under Clause (v) above, at least 10 students must
have appeared in the last final examination in any subject in case of Venture High
School, Venture High Madrassa, or Venture Higher Secondary School or Venture Junior
College. At least 15 students in any subject must have appeared in case of Venture
Degree College in the last final examination".
6. A reading of Section 3(1)(vii) of the Act of 2017 would go to show that the
services of one teacher or tutor as the case may be is to be provincialised in each
subject of a venture senior secondary school provided that the subject concerned have
atleast 10 students appearing in the last examinations of that particular subject in the
particular school. The only requirement for provincialisation of the services of a teacher
in a venture senior secondary school as provided under Section 3(1)(vii) is that in the
given subject atleast 10 students must have appeared in the final examination in the
given last year. As already indicated in the subject Advance Assamese, 58 students had
appeared in the year 2017, 80 students had appeared in the year 2018 and 36
students had appeared in the year 2019 which infact was more than the required
figure of 10 students appearing.
Page No.# 4/4
7. Section 3(1)(vii) does not provide for any further condition to be satisfied.
8. In the circumstance, we are of the view that the legal right of the petitioner to
be provincialised under Section 3(1)(vii) of the Act of 2017 has been violated.
9. The aforesaid conclusion has been arrived at on the basis of the materials
available on record.
10. However, Ms. N M Sarma, learned counsel for the Secondary Education
Department and Ms. RB Bora, learned counsel state that there may be some other
reasons as to why the services of the petitioner has not been provincialised and for the
purpose an adjournment is sought for to provide the information to the Court. We are
of the view that instead of requiring the learned counsel to provide the information, if
any, the interest of justice would be better served if a direction is issued to the Director
of Secondary Education Assam to consider the case of the petitioner for
provincialisation under the provisions of Section 3(1)(vii) of the Act of 2017 and pass a
reasoned order thereon. If there are any other reasons other than what is apparent
from the record in the present case for not provincialising the services of the petitioner,
the Director may record the same and pass a reasoned order. If on the other hand,
there is no other infirmity in the claim of the petitioner for provincialisation appropriate
order may be passed accordingly.
11. The above requirement be done within a period of two months from the date of
receipt of a certified copy of this order.
12. As we are leaving it to the discretion of the Director to pass a reasoned order
either in favour of the petitioner or against the petitioner, we deem it appropriate to
dispose of the matter at the motion stage itself and considering the same this order
has been passed today.
13. Writ petition stands closed in the above terms.
JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
