STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The bench of Kalyan Rai Surana of the Gauhati High Court caught the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (AH&V) Department on the wrong foot for sitting over a representation made by 12 veterinary doctors for the condoning of their ages for their recruitment to the post of veterinary officer/block veterinary officer, Class B and Class 1 (Jr. grade).
The Court said, “The 12 petitioners herein, who were otherwise too aged to be considered for appointment, had made a prayer before the competent authorities, including the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department (AH&V), Director of AH&V Department, Assam, and Secretary, APSC, on August 2, 2022, for condoning their ages. The respondent authorities have not filed their affidavit to date. Accordingly, the Court has taken exception to the inaction on the part of the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, AH&V Department, who had not disposed of the said representation.
“Therefore, the Court is having the impression that the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, AH&V Department, does not have the sense of performing public duty and is sitting over the representation for a year.
“Despite the APSC writing to the authorities to give them the status of the application for condonation of age, the Head of the Department of AH&V could not be moved to do his public duty.
“Therefore, starting from today (August 2, 2023), the Court is inclined to give five working days to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, AH&V Department, to pass an appropriate order on the representation dated August 2, 2022, given by the twelve petitioners for condonation of their upper age.
“It would be a travesty of justice to now direct the petitioners to file a separate representation before the said authority after a lapse of one year, when competent authority, i.e., the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, AH&V Department, has not written to the petitioners to provide separate applications. It would amount to giving a premium to the said authority for not doing his assigned duty.”
The bench said, “It is provided that in the event that the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, AH&V Department, cannot dispose of the representation of the petitioners within five working days, he is put to notice as to why inaction on his part to perform his public duty should not be reported to the Government of Assam through the Chief Secretary so as to have a departmental inquiry conducted as to what prevented the said authority from exercising his power to do his assigned duty and to empower a competent officer the power to dispose of the representation with the approval of the competent authorities.”
The Court listed the writ petition (WP-C 5288/2022) on August 11 for its next hearing.
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