Gauhati High Court directs former LDAs in BTC to present details of arrears

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court directed the petitioners, who were initially appointed as Lower Division Assistants in various schools under the erstwhile Bodoland Autonomous Council, to submit individual representations before the Director of Education, BTC, disclosing their details of services rendered by them along with the relevant documents and the amounts receivable.

The petitioners, by way of instituting the present writ petition, raised a grievance with regard to the non-payment of their arrear salaries for the period they had served as Lower Division Assistants. The petitioners were initially appointed as LD Assistants in various schools under the erstwhile Bodoland Autonomous Council. The services of the petitioners were initially engaged at a monthly remuneration of Rs. 1000, which was to be paid out of the Council fund allotted to the education sector. The petitioners had joined their services on different dates in the years 1997–1998, and it is contended that since their dates of initial appointment, they had been continuously serving as LD Assistants in the schools to which they were so appointed till November 12, 2004, on which date their services were terminated.

The petitioners contended that persons similarly situated like them, who had initially instituted proceedings before the HC, were favourably considered by the respondent authorities, and the payments due to them for the period they had so worked were released to them.

However, on account of the fact that the petitioners in the instant writ petition had not moved before the Court and there were no orders from this Court in their cases requiring consideration of the matter, the respondent authorities, more particularly the Director of Education, BTC, had refused to consider the cases of the petitioners and release the amounts due to them on account of the services rendered by them.

In view of the said position and also noticing that persons similarly situated like the petitioners working as LD Assistants recruited and terminated along with the petitioners have been paid their remuneration, in pursuance to the directions passed by this Court, the present writ petition was also disposed of with a direction to the petitioners, herein, to submit individual representations before the Director of Education, BTC, and therein, disclosing their details of services rendered by them along with the relevant documents and the amounts receivable.

The Director of Education, BTC, on receipt of such a representation from the petitioners along with a certified copy of this order, shall verify the facts that have been stated in the said representation and, on coming to the conclusion that the petitioners had in fact worked from the date of their initial appointments until the date their services were terminated, take steps to release to them the remunerations that they were promised at the time of their respective appointments. The said exercise shall be initiated and carried out within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the representations from the petitioners along with a certified copy of this order.

In the event the Director of Education, BTC, upon verification of the particulars submitted by the petitioners, comes to an adverse conclusion with regard to all or any of the petitioners, such petitioners shall be intimated about the specific reasons on which his case of release of his remuneration was rejected by passing a speaking order in respect of each of such petitioners, as the HC ordered.

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