Supreme Court Directs Assam Govt To Pay ₹5 Lakh Each To 40 Terror Victims Whose Appointments Were Terminated
The State offered to pay monetary compensation in lieue of reinstating the persons who were appointed under a welfare scheme.
The Supreme Court has directed the Assam Government to disburse Rs. 5 Lakhs each to the 40 individuals appointed to the post of Lower Division Assistant (LDA) under a special State policy for rehabilitating families affected by terrorism.
A bench of Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Vijay Bishnoi modified the Gauhati High Court's order, which quashed the State government termination orders, where instead of reinstating these individuals, the bench accepted the State Government proposal to offer them Rs. 5 Lakhs each as a one-time settlement against their reinstatement.
“Thus, modifying the direction reinstatement and payment of arrears of salary, we direct that the appellants shall pay Rs.5,00,000/-(Rupees Five Lakhs only) per respondent (40 in number as per Memo of Parties of present appeal) within a period of two (2) months from today and submit a compliance report to the Registry of this Court.”, the bench ordered.
The writ petitioners were appointed in 2001 under a State policy designed to support families of those who assisted in combating militancy or facilitated the return of militants to mainstream society. Their appointments were later cancelled on the grounds that the Chief Secretary, the designated appointing authority, had not personally approved the recruitment.
The Gauhati High Court, both at the Single Judge and Division Bench levels, held that the appointments were valid, holding that merely because the appointment orders were not signed by the Chief Secretary would not make the appointments invalid.
Considering the long passage of time, the State expressed willingness to offer a monetary settlement in lieu of reinstatement.
Initially, the Government proposed ₹2.5 lakh, but after further directions, it increased the offer to ₹5 lakh per person, as stated in an affidavit by the Joint Secretary, which was accepted by the Court.
Cause Title: THE STATE OF ASSAM & ORS. VERSUS MUKUT RANJAN SARMA & ORS.
Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1204
Appearance:
For Appellant(s) : Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv.
For Respondent(s) : Mr. B. K. Sarma, Sr. Adv. Ms. Neha Tandon, Adv. Mr. Bharadwaj S., AOR Mr. B. K. Sharma, Sr. Adv. Mr. Parthiv K Goswami, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rahul Pratap, AOR Ms. Atiga Singh, Adv.