During a conflict between judicial pronouncement and office memorandum, the judicial pronouncement would prevail: High Court of Gauhati
The judicial pronouncement clearly provided that there would be no upper age limit in case of a compassionate appointment unlike what was provided in direct recruitment to Government service. Such an opinion was held by The Hon’ble High Court of Gauhati before The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua in the matter of Mridula Choudhury Vs. The State Of Assam And 5 Ors [WP(C)/5855/2021].
The facts of the case were associated with the petitioner’s husband Tirtha Nath Choudhury who worked as a Demonstrator at Barpeta Vidyapith Higher Secondary School. He died on 12.04.2014. The petitioner submitted a compassionate appointment application on his death. In a meeting before DLC, the petitioner was recommended for the post of Grade-III Junior Assistant. However, a meeting later with SLC, the application was rejected since the petitioner was overaged. It was stated that in cases of compassionate appointment application there would be no upper age limit unlike the direct recruitment processes provided in Government services. It was noticed that a conflict rose due to the different decisions made during the meetings.
The Hon’ble Court considering all the submissions stated that the rejection of the claim of the petitioner by the SLC in its meeting 04.01.2021 for the reason of overage is unsustainable in law. The rejection of the SLC on the claim of the petitioner in its meeting of 04.01.2021 is set aside and the matter stands remand back to the SLC for fresh consideration.”
Therefore, the Writ Petition stands allowed.
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Judgment reviewed by Bipasha Kundu