Lalan Paswan Vs The State of Bihar — Patna HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

Lalan Paswan Vs The State of Bihar — Patna HC (2024) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Writ application disposed of with directions: petitioners to file a detailed representation with a copy of the order in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 before respondent no.4 (District Programme Officer (Establishment), Nalanda) within two weeks; respondent no.4 to dispose of the representation after affording an opportunity of personal hearing or through counsel, by a reasoned and speaking order in accordance with law and in light of the C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 order, within eight weeks of filing; respondent no.4 personally responsible for non-compliance.

Issue for consideration

Whether the present writ application, which the petitioners contend is covered by the order passed in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 and analogous cases, should be kept pending or instead disposed of by directing consideration of the petitioners' representation in light of that order.

Court's answer

Since the case of the petitioners stands on similar footing to that of the petitioners of C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019, there is no requirement to keep the present writ application pending.

Ratio / Principle

The petitioners are directed to file a detailed representation along with a copy of the order passed in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 before respondent no.4 within two weeks; respondent no.4 is to consider the case and dispose of the representation after affording an opportunity of personal hearing or through their counsel, passing a reasoned and speaking order in accordance with law and in light of the order passed in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 within eight weeks from the date of filing of such representation.

Key takeaways

Respondent no.4 shall be personally held responsible for non-compliance of the Court's order.ratio¶20
The Court has not expressed any opinion with regard to the merits of the claim of the petitioners; the merits remain expressly left open.obiter¶22

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (Anjani Kumar Sharan, J.) disposed of CWJC No.5416 of 2023 (Lalan Paswan & Anr. v. State of Bihar & Ors.) on 15-04-2024. Counsel for the petitioners submitted that their case was squarely covered by the order passed in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 and analogous cases. Finding the petitioners to stand on similar footing to the petitioners in C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019, the Court held there was no requirement to keep the present writ pending and disposed of it with directions: (i) the petitioners to file a detailed representation along with a copy of the C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 order before respondent no.4 (District Programme Officer (Establishment), Nalanda) within two weeks; (ii) respondent no.4 to dispose of the representation after affording an opportunity of personal hearing or through their counsel, by a reasoned and speaking order in accordance with law and in light of the C.W.J.C No.22186 of 2019 order, within eight weeks of filing; and (iii) respondent no.4 to be personally held responsible for non-compliance. The Court expressly recorded that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the petitioners' claim.