Page No.# 1/5 GAHC010093262026 2026:GAU-AS:9346 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : WP(C)/2611/2026 MD. HIFJUR RAHMAN S/O MD. IDRISH ALI, R/O BECHAMARI, P.O.- BECHAMARI, P.S.- DHING, DIST- NAGAON, ASSAM VERSUS STATE OF ASSAM AND 2 ORS REPRESENTED BY THE COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ASSAM, DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION, DISPUR, GUWAHATI- 781006 2:THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI-781019 3:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS NAGAON DISTRICT CIRCLE NAGAON ASSA Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. D P BORAH, MR U GHOSH Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU., Page No.# 2/5 BEFORE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE N. UNNI KRISHNAN NAIR ORDER 24/06/2026 Heard Mr. D P Borah, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. B Kaushik, learned Standing counsel, Secondary Education Department, appearing for the respondents. 2. As agreed to by the learned counsel for the parties, the present writ petition was taken up for final consideration at the admission stage and is being disposed of by this order. 3. The petitioner by way of instituting the present writ petition, has prayed for an interference with Clause-8, as incorporated in an order dated 27.12.2023, issued towards approving the transfer of the petitioner, effected on his own request, to Bechamari M.I. H.S. School, Nagaon from Moirabari H.S. School, Morigaon. 4. The petitioner has further prayed that his seniority on his such joining in Bechamari M.I. H.S. School be fixed by reckoning the services rendered by him, since the date of his initial appointment as an Assistant Teacher in Moirabari H.S. School. 5. Mr. Borah, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that it is an admitted fact that the transfer of the petitioner was considered on a request made by him, under the provisions of the Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teachers’ (Regulation of Posting and Transfer) Act, 2020 (hereinafter, referred to as the Act of 2020). Page No.# 3/5 6. Mr. Borah, by referring to the provisions of Section 11 of the Act of 2020, submits that a teacher transferred under the provisions of the said Act, would not loose his seniority, even if such transfer is effected on his own request. 7. Mr. B Kaushik, learned Standing counsel, Department of School Education, Assam, fairly submits that in terms of the provisions of Section 11 of the Act of 2020, a teacher transferred under the provisions of the said Act of 2020, even on his own request, would not loose his seniority and would not be required to be assigned bottom seniority in the school to which he was transferred. 8. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials available on record. 9. The petitioner, who was initially appointed as a Graduate Teacher (Science) at Moirabari Higher Secondary School, Morigaon, had submitted an application for inter-district transfer from Morigaon to Nagaon District. The said application of the petitioner was duly considered by the State Level Committee, constituted under the provisions of the Act of 2020. The committee on a consideration of the request of the petitioner, recommended his such transfer. Thereafter, on the recommendation as made by the said committee, on being approved by the Government, the Director of Secondary Education, Assam, vide order dated 27.12.2023, proceeded to transfer the peititoner to Nagaon District. However, in Clause-8 of the order dated 27.12.2023, a condition came to be incorporated to the effect that the petitioner shall not claim seniority over the existing staff of the school, he would now be posted and his seniority in the school, would be determined from the date of his joining therein. 10. The petitioner on being transferred to Nagaon District, the case of the Page No.# 4/5 petitioner for a posting against a school in Nagaon District, came to be placed before the District Level Committee as constituted under the Act of 2020. Thereafter, the Inspector of Schools, Nagaon, vide order dated 02.08.2024, basing on the recommendations made in respect of the petitioner, by the District Level Committee, posted him at Bechamari M.I. Higher Secondary School, Nagaon, as a Graduate Science Teacher. The petitioner joined against the post as identified for him. The petitioner being aggrieved by the stipulation as contained in Clause-8 of the order dated 27.12.2023, had approached the authorities for deletion of the same, however, such request made by the petitioner was not considered. 11. From the materials coming on record, this Court finds that the request of the petitioner for an inter-district transfer from Morigaon to Nagaon District was so considered under the provisions of Section 7 of the Act of 2020. Section 11 of the Act of 2020, mandates that Transfer of a teacher effected under the Act, shall not in any manner effect his original seniority in his cadre of the service. 12. In view of the provisions of Section 11 of the Act of 2020, even in respect of inter-district transfer made in respect of a teacher, basing on his own request, such transfer, if ordered after processing of the request of the teacher under the provisions of Section 7 of the Act of 2020, the same would not entail loss of seniority of the teacher in the transferee district. The teacher would carry his seniority in the earlier school, and the same would be mandated to be reckoned for assigning seniority to such teacher in the transferee school. 13. In view of the above discussions, this Court having concluded that the transfer of the petitioner from Morigaon District to Nagaon District was so effected after his such request was processed in terms of the provisions of Page No.# 5/5 Section 7 of the Act of 2020, the incorporation of Clause-8 in the order dated 27.12.2023 by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam, was clearly not mandated. The Director of Secondary Education, Assam, is not found by this Court to have been vested with powers to impose conditions, contrary to the provisions of the Act of 2020, while ordering inter-district transfers in respect of teachers, after such request for transfer was recommended by the State Level Committee, as constituted under the Act of 2020. 14. Accordingly, Cluase-8 as incorporated in the order dated 27.12.2023, issued by the Director of Secondary Education, Assam, stands set aside. 15. This Court having interfered with the provisions of Clause-8 of the order dated 27.12.2023, it is directed that the petitioner would now be assigned seniority position as a Graduate Teacher in Bechamari M.I. Higher Secondary School, by reckoning the date of his initial joining as a Graduate Teacher in Moirabari H.S. School, Morigaon. 16. The Director of Secondary Education, Assam, is directed to issue consequential orders, in terms of the observations and directions passed by this Court hereinabove, within a period of 1 (one) month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order from the petitioner. 17. The writ petition accordingly stands allowed. JUDGE Comparing Assistant