Court : Guwahati
Reported in : AIR2010Gau11
J. Chelameswar, C.J.1. A batch of writ petitions and writ appeals are pending for quite some time in this Court. The earliest of the batch, as can be traced out so far, is WP (C) No. 2275/2004. The said batch and connected appeals, as a matter of fact, are heard in part. Broadly speaking, the complaint in those cases is that a truck carrying cargo in the State of Meghalaya is being compelled to pay substantial amounts at innumerable points in the State of Meghalaya to various persons. Broadly such persons fall under four categories - (1) persons operating weighbridges on various terms and conditions stipulated by the State of Meghalaya; (2) the local tribal chiefs known as Syiems and Sardars; (3 the authorities purportedly implementing the provisions of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and (4) the police officers of the State of Meghalaya.2. It can be mentioned here that Sylems and Sardars, the local tribal chiefs, who are parties respondents to the various writ ...
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Hrishikesh Roy, J.1. Heard Mr. B.C. Das, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant/writ petitioner. Also heard Mr. P. Pathak, learned Advocate General representing the respondents Nos. 1 and 2. Mr. AK Phookan, learned senior counsel has appeared and argued on behalf of the respondent No. 3.2. The present writ appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 8-1-2007 passed in WP (C) No. 6165/2006. The challenge in the writ petition was to the notification dated 28-11-2006 whereby the Chief Executive Member of Mara Autonomous District Council (hereinafter referred to as 'the MADC') was directed to secure a vote of confidence in a special session on 8-1 -2007. By the said order it was further directed that only the elected Members of the District Council shall be permitted to vote in the vote of confidence. The writ petitioner who is a nominated Member of the District Council has challenged the said direction dated 28-11-2006 whereby the nominated Members have been kept ...
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Oral Judgment: 01. Both the writ petitions raise identical issues and, accordingly, were heard together. Today is fixed for delivery of judgment. Accordingly, judgment is dictated in the open court. 02. Issue raised in the two writ petitions is whether gradation list of Lecturers serving in the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) should be department/branch wise or cadre wise. 03. This issue has arisen in the context of the Assam District Institute of Education and Training Service Rules, 2010 (DIET Service Rules, hereafter). While the petitioners contend that the gradation list of Lecturers has to be department/branch wise, the respondents contend otherwise. This has given rise to the present lis. 04. Background facts may be briefly narrated. 05. Petitioners in both the cases are working as Lecturers in different branches in various DIETs in the State of Assam. To achieve the objective of universalization of elementary education and eradication of adult illiteracy, DI...
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I.A. Ansari, J. 1. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty. Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (18011809) 2. Article 21 is one of the most cherished provisions in our Constitution, which prohibits the State from depriving a person of his life and liberty except according to the procedure established by law. However, what happens if by the States action, which has been neither sanctioned by a legislation nor has been taken in valid exercise of its executive powers, the ineffaceable mandate of Article 21 gets smudged. This is precisely the issue, which the appellant has been, for almost a decade of litigation, urging the court to decide. Having been unsuccessful in his attempt to convince the Court in his writ petition of the correctness and righteousness of his contentions, the appellant is, now, before us, seeking a revisit to ...
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Judgment and Order: I.A. Ansari, J. 1. Standing before us, as the petitioner in this writ petition, made under Article 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, is a decorated officer of the Indian Air Force, a recipient of Visistha Sewa Medal, presently holding the rank of Air Commodore after having served the Indian Air Force since 1983 as a fighter pilot of the highest caliber with an impeccable and unblemished service record. The petitioner has come to this Court, having been unsuccessful in invoking the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the AFT), the petitioners grievance being that he is a victim of harassment, humiliation and persecution in a systematic, concerted and vindictive manner by the respondents, because the petitioner had raised his voice against mal-administration and corruption leading to low quality of construction of Airbase for operation of well known Sukhoi-SU-30 MKI Aircrafts. 2. The case of the petitioner, leading to filing o...
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1. By this common judgment and order, I propose to dispose of all these four writ petitions in as much as all these four writ petitions are in severally(sic) connected with each other and have raised substantially same questions of law and involve certain common facts. These writ petitions are, in fact, off-shoots of two previous writ petitions, namely, WP(C) 2779/2006 and 6578/2007, which involved the parties to the present proceedings. 2. In order to correctly appreciate the background in which the present writ petitions have come to be filed and call for this Court s decision, a careful analysis of the events of the past, which had given rise to the previous writ petitions, is imperative. BACKGROUND FACTS(i)Having noticed that the Railways had been adopting different terms and conditions, while giving contracts for washing of bedroll items and no standard terms and conditions of tenders had been formulated, Railway Board, constituted under the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905, issued ...
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Reported in : [2010]153CompCas579(Gauhati)
I.A. Ansari, J.1. The appellant, a private limited company, was, originally, incorporated, under the Companies Act, 1930, and is, therefore, an 'existing company' within the meaning of the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. The appellant-company is in the business of manufacture and sale of tea and owns a tea estate, which is run under the name and style of Radhabari Tea Estate, situated in the district of Golaghat, Assam (hereinafter referred to as the 'appellant's tea estate'). For the last few years, the appellant's tea estate ran into losses. Consequently, the appellant's tea estate has not been able to make payment of its various dues, such as, electricity dues, creditors' dues, statutory levies as well as demands from the financial institutions. The electricity supply to the said tea estate stands disconnected since the year 2007 and the appellant's-bank has also declared the appellant-company as a non-performing asset and has accordingly initiated proceedings against the app...
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Jasti Chelameswar, C.J.1. Heard Ms. M Deb, learned Counsel appearing for he petitioner. Also heard Ms. B Goyal, learned Govt. Advocate who represents the State respondents.2. The present petition has been filed seeking direction of the Court for conducting an enquiry into the killing of the petitioner's son Prakash Deka @ Mridul who was killed in police firing on 8-8-2007 and also for directions for paying compensation to the petitioner and for taking appropriate actions against the guilty police officers.3. Pursuant to the notice issued by this Court, counter affidavit on behalf of the Deputy Commissioner, Darrang, Mangaldoi of Darrang District is filed.4. It is not in dispute that the petitioner's son died on account of police firing, while he was driving accompanied by six others and proceeding in a Maruti Van. It is not in the dispute that in the process one of the other passengers Smti Gita Kalita also sustained a bullet injury in her leg. It is also not in dispute that the vehic...
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B.P. Katakey, J.1. The State Legislature of Assam, on obtaining previous Presidential sanction under proviso to Article 304(b) of the Constitution, enacted the Assam Entry Tax Act, 2001 (Assam Act 4 of 2001)(in short, 'the principal Act') with a view to levy tax on entry of goods, into any local area of Assam for consumption, use or sale therein, which came into force on October 1, 2001, on publication of a notification dated September 28, 2001 in the Assam Gazette (Extraordinary) specifying the said date, in terms of the provisions contained in Section 1(3) of the said Act. Clause (b) of Section 2(1) defines 'entry of goods into a local area' as entry of goods as specified in the schedule into a local area from any place outside the State for consumption, use or sale therein. Section 2(1)(d) defines 'importer' as a person who brings specified goods into the local area from any place outside the State for consumption, use or sale including for consumption or use of such goods in works...
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I.A. Ansari, J.1. It was in an age of struggle that India's struggle for independence achieved success, for, with the end of the Second World War, countries were struggling to overcome the disastrous consequences, which the war had brought. It was an age, when the people, all over the world, were struggling for space and everyone wanted to have greater say in the governance of their respective countries. British empire had fragmented and struggle to occupy he void created by the fall of the British empire had had fragmented and struggle to occupy the void created by the fall of the British empire intestified. It was in such a period of transition from colonial rule to a rule of self-governance that the constitution of India was in prepared. What our constitution-makers witnessed and experienced had its reflection in our Constitution. The concept of entry tax is a concept routed in history. Before the industrial revolution, the society, world over was mainly agriculture based, there w...
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