Tikendrajit Gogoi v. the State of Assam and 5 Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Batch disposal by consent of 56 writ petitions (lead: WP(C)/342/2025, Abdul Kadir Bokshi v. State of Assam; decided 03.04.2025, Gauhati High Court, Justice Michael Zothankhuma) challenging Assam Personnel (B) Department OM dated 18.09.2024 withdrawing compassionate appointment for deaths in harness prior to 01.04.2017 (superseding OM No. ABP.50/2006/Pt-182 dated 01.06.2015). DLC/SLC directed to reconsider pending applications on merit per pre-01.04.2017 guidelines; existing rejections set aside; six-month timeline; impugned OM off-limits but Debabrata Tiwari (CA 8842-8855/2020) citable; order limited to cases pending on 03.04.2025. Keywords: compassionate appointment, DLC, SLC, death in harness, OM 18.09.2024, consent order, Assam.
What did the court decide?
By consent, all writ petitions challenging the OM dated 18.09.2024 and pending as on 03.04.2025 were disposed of: DLC/SLC to consider and dispose all pending compassionate appointment applications on merit per pre-01.04.2017 State guidelines and Supreme Court/High Court judgments; rejections under challenge as on 03.04.2025 set aside; process to be completed within six months of receipt of certified copy (District Commissioner for DLC matters, Chief Secretary for SLC matters); respondents barred from taking recourse to the impugned OM (Debabrata Tiwari may still be considered/applied); order confined to cases pending as on 03.04.2025 and not usable as precedent for later filings; decisions to be reasoned and communicated to petitioners.