[ Bengia Ajum ]
NAHARLAGUN, 27 Jun: The Gauhati High Court has directed the Health Department to consider appointing Dr Phari Dajangju to the post of assistant professor in the biochemistry department of the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) here.
Dr Dajangju had filed a writ petition challenging part of an order dated 27 September, 2024 issued by the health and family welfare commissioner, who also serves as chairperson of the Executive Committee of the TRIHMS. In that order, the commissioner cancelled the selection and appointment of E Sruti as assistant professor of biochemistry and directed that fresh advertisement be issued for the post, subject to written clarification from the National Medical Commission.
Sruti’s appointment was cancelled after Dr Dajangju complained to the Special Investigation Cell (SIC), alleging corrupt practices in the recruitment process. He claimed that Sruti was allowed to appear for the interview and was selected despite being ineligible. Furthermore, he noted that the scrutiny board -responsible for verifying applicants’ documents -was headed by Dr S Nageswara Rao, head of department, who is also Sruti’s husband, casting doubt on the fairness of the process.
The complaint even reached the office of the chief minister.
In response, the commissioner cited various reasons for cancelling the appointment. The high court in its judgement stated that Dr Dajangju’s case for appointment should be considered, since he had already been selected and placed first on the waiting list, based on the advertisement dated 15 March,2024 and the subsequent selection list dated 20 June,2024. The court also noted that cancelling Sruti’s appointment appeared to comply with the relevant 2022 regulations.
This issue first came to light in August 2024, when Dr Dajangju filed his complaint with the SIC regarding malpractice in the recruitment process for the position of assistant professor of biochemistry in the TRIHMS.
