Page No.# 1/7 GAHC010121752025 2025:GAU-AS:8739-DB THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WA/201/2025 JOMIR UDDIN S/O LATE ROMJAN ALI, R/O VILL. MOIRAKUCHI PT-I, P.O. AIRKATA, P.S. KAKIRGANJ, DIST. DHUBRI, ASSAM, PIN 783330 VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 7 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE SECY. TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, DEPTT. OF SCHOOL EDUCATION, DISPUR, GUWAHATI 781006 2:THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI 19 3:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS DHUBRI DIST. CIRCLE DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 783301 4:THE DIST. COMMISSIONER DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 783301 5:THE PRINCIPAL AIRKATA H.S. SCHOOL P.O. AIRKATA PIN 783330 DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM. 6:HASEM ALI Page No.# 2/7 S/O BADSHA SHEIKH R/O VILL. BANGANPARA P.O. AIRKATA P.S. FAKIRGANJ DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 783330 7:MD. AZHAR UDDIN S/O MD. MOBARAK ALI R/O VILL. BOCHAIMARI P.O. AIRKATA P.S. FAKIRGANJ DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 783330 8:JUBBER ALI S/O MAFIJ UDDIN R/O VILL. BOCHAIMARI P.O. AIRKATA P.S. FAKIRGANJ DIST. DHUBRI ASSAM PIN 78333 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A F N U MOLLAH, R AMIN,K ZAMAN,MD H R AHMED Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU., GA, ASSAM BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE MITALI THAKURIA ORDER Date : 23-06-2025 [M. Choudhury, J] Heard Mr. A.F.N.U. Mollah, learned counsel for the appellant; Mr. R. Mazumdar, learned Standing Counsel, Department of School Education for the respondent no. 1-3; and Mr. D.K. Sharma, learned Additional Senior Government Page No.# 3/7 Advocate, Assam for the respondent no. 4. 2. The learned counsel for the parties in this writ appeal are heard on the legal issue sought to be raised on the basis of a Notification dated 24.06.2016 issued by the State Government in the Education [Secondary] Department. 3. This intra-court appeal is preferred against an Order dated 05.05.2025 passed by the learned Single Judge in a writ petition, W.P.[C] no. 3383/2024. In the writ petition, the appointment of the appellant, who was impleaded as party-respondent no. 6 in the writ petition, as the President of the School Management and Development Committee of Airkata High School [presently, Airkata Airkata Higher Secondary School and hereinafter referred as ‘Airkata School’, for short], District – Dhubri had been assailed. 4. The appellant-respondent no. 6 was appointed as the President of Airkata School by a Notification dated 29.03.2022. The writ petition was preferred by three petitioners whose wards are presently pursuing education in Airkata School. 5. The primary ground of challenge to the appellant-respondent no. 6’s appointment as the President of the School Management & Development Committee [SMDC] of Airkata School is that the appellant-respondent no. 6, at that time, was as Executive Member of South Salmara Mankachar District Committee of a recognized political party, Bharatiya Janata Party. It is contended that in view of holding such position in a recognized political party, the appellant-respondent no. 6 was having a political career and as such, he could not be permitted to continue as the President of SMDC of Airkata School. Reliance has been placed in a Notification dated 24.06.2016 of the Government Page No.# 4/7 of Assam in the Education [Secondary] Department to buttress the contention. 6. The School Management and Development Committees [SMDCs] have been delegated a number of responsibilities like selection of Principal/Head Master/teachers, financial management, etc. and they play a major role in the improvement and quality in the schools. By a Notification dated 24.06.2016, the Government in the Education [Secondary] Department taking note of the fact that earlier notifications did not lay down any criteria for selection of President/Vice President of the SMDCs including uniform qualification, etc., decided to lay down the criteria for selection of the President/Vice President of the SMDCs. 7. It is set forth in the Notification dated 24.06.2016 that any person who has contested election of President/Parliament or Assembly in the last twenty years should not be considered for the post of President/Vice President, even if he/she fulfills all other criteria indicated therein. By the said notification, the State Government decided, firstly, to dissolve all SMDCs of the institutions mentioned therein including the High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools and secondly, to constitute new SMDCs with the compositions mentioned therein. For the post of President and Vice President in the SMDCs, a person has to be a local resident and he should have the qualification of not less than graduation in any discipline. That apart, the person has to be a reputed citizen but without any kind of political career. 8. The writ petition was contested by the appellant-respondent no. 6 by filing an affidavit-in-opposition. In the said affidavit-in-opposition, the appellant- respondent no. 6 with regard to the specific contention raised on behalf of the petitioners that he was an active functionary in a recognized national political Page No.# 5/7 party as an Executive Member of South Salmara Mankachar District Committee of the political party, admitted the said fact in paragraph 6, 8 & 10 of the said affidavit-in-opposition. At the same time, it has been averred by the appellant- respondent no. 6 that he had never contested in election to attract the disqualification criteria laid down in the Notification dated 24.06.2016. The appellant-respondent no. 6 had also admitted to the effect that he had a political career. 9. Mr. Mollah, learned counsel for the appellant-respondent no. 6 has submitted that in such obtaining fact situation, the disqualification clause set forth in the notification dated 24.06.2016 is not attracted in the case of the appellant-respondent no. 6. 10. The said contention has been vehemently opposed by the learned Standing Counsel in the Department of School Education. 11. The learned Single Judge had considered the above aspects in the impugned Order dated 05.05.2025 and observed upon perusal of the records that the appellant-respondent no. 6 was a Member of the Dakhin Salmara Mankachar District Committee, Bharatiya Janata Party as well as an Executive Member of Bharatiya Janata Party. In view of holding such position, the appellant-respondent no. 6 had clearly incurred the disqualification laid down in the Notification dated 24.06.2016 and his appointment as the President of the SMDC of Airkata School was in his violation of the eligibility criteria provided in the Notification dated 24.06.2016. 12. In the Notification dated 24.06.2016, the Government in the Education [Secondary] Department has observed to enforce the following criteria to Page No.# 6/7 become the President/Vice President of the SMDC :- 1. President & Vice President of the SMDC should not be more than 65 years of age. 2. The qualification of the President & Vice President of the SMDC should not be less than Graduation of any discipline. 3. The reputation of such persons should be beyond any doubt or suspicion and he should be a person of good reputation in the locality. Any person who is convicted for any offence can not be selected for these posts. 4. Any persons who have contested any election of Panchayat level/Parliament or Assembly Election is last 20 years should not be considered for the post of the President/Vice President, even if he/she is fulfilled all other criteria as indicated above. 13. On the basis of the above criteria, the State Government in the Education Department decided to constitute the new SMDCs with the composition that the President and the Vice President of the SMDCs should not have any political career. A member of a recognized national political party, holding an executive position in the District Committee is indicative of active participation in the political process. An executive member is tasked with duties and responsibilities of giving shape to the strategy of the political party and is involved in the decision making process and activities of the political party, which are political in nature. Thus, it cannot be said that an executive member of a recognized political party does not have a political career. 14. In the intra-court appeal, the scope of interference is otherwise limited. We Page No.# 7/7 are of the considered view that the view taken by the learned Single Judge on the basis of the criteria laid down in the Notification dated 24.06.2016 is a possible view and not perverse in any manner. Merely because another view could be possible, there should be no interference with the order passed by the learned Single Judge. In view of the admission of the fact that the appellant- respondent no. 6 was an Executive Member of a District Committee of a recognized national political party at the time of consideration of the issue of eligibility or otherwise for holding the post of President of the SMDC of the Airkata School, it cannot be said that he had no political career. 15. In view of the above, we find no merit in this intra-court appeal for interference. The appeal is found to be devoid of merits and the same is accordingly dismissed. 16. In view of the findings reached above, issuance of notice to the other respondents has been dispensed with. JUDGE JUDGE Comparing Assistant