Local Committee under an assessment SOP need not grant a personal hearing where it only screens high-pitched assessment grievances.

A Local Committee constituted under an administrative SOP to screen high-pitched assessment grievances was treated as a limited fact-finding mechanism, not an appellate or dispute-resolution forum. The High Court held that the SOP did not require the Committee to grant a personal hearing, and that examining the grievance on the material before it was sufficient. Because the applicant had already pursued the statutory appellate remedy, no error was found in the earlier order declining interference. The claim of entitlement to a hearing before the Committee was rejected, and the review application was dismissed, leaving the prior dismissal of the writ petition undisturbed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the SOP issued for constitution of the Local Committee required it to grant a personal hearing and whether the earlier order dismissing the writ petition called for review.

Analysis: The SOP was understood as a mechanism only for constituting a Local Committee to examine whether a case fell within the category of high-pitched assessment. The Local Committee was not treated as an alternate forum for dispute resolution or appellate proceedings. On the facts, the Committee examined the grievance on the material before it, concluded that the case did not fall within the ambit of high-pitched assessment, and communicated that decision. As the applicant had already availed the statutory appellate remedy, no error was found in the earlier order declining interference.

Conclusion: The claim of entitlement to a hearing before the Local Committee was rejected, and the review application was dismissed.

Final Conclusion: The earlier dismissal of the writ petition remained undisturbed, and no ground was found to reopen the matter in review.

Ratio Decidendi: A Local Committee constituted under an administrative SOP to screen high-pitched assessment grievances is not an appellate or dispute-resolution forum, and absence of a personal hearing before it does not by itself vitiate its determination.

---