IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.12152 of 2011 ============================================= 1. Basuki Shankar Rajak, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub Division, Digha (Patna) son of Sri Upendra Baitha,, r/o- village Choukiniyamat, P.O.- Champanagar, District- Bhagalpur. 2. Narendra Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply sub Division, Danapur, Patna Son of Shri Chandeshwar Prasad, r/o- village- Bhaluiata, P.O.- Puraini, District- Nawada. 3. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub Division, Khagaul, Patna, s/o- Sri Hari Kishore Mahto, r/o- Ganesh Chowk, P.O. & P.S. & District- Samastipur. 4. Madhusudan Prasad Sinha, Junior Electrical Engineer, Power Sub- Station, Danapur, Patna, s/o- late Fulena Prasad, r/o- village Nariapur, P.S.- Bagaha, District- West Champaran. 5. Baleshwar Prasad, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, MES, Danapur, Patna son of Shri Parmanand Prasad, r/o- village Kochsasa, P.S.- Kinjar, District- Arwal. 6. Ramesh Kumar Sah, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Digha, Patna s/o- Sri Ram Pravesh Sah, r/o- Village Rasulpur, P.S.- Rasulpur, District- Chapra(Saran). 7. Virendra Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Gola Road, Patna, s/o- Shri Jagadish Singh, r/o- Sonapipar, P.S.- Pachrukhi, District- Siwan. 8. Kumar Awadhesh Narayan, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Khagaul-1, Patna s/o- Late Ishwar Prasad, r/o- Lower Station Road, Mohalla Unta, P.S.- & District- Jehanabad. 9. Rana Pratap Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Phulwarisharif, Patna, s/o- Sri B.B.Singh, Qr. No.19, Road No. 8, Sidhgora, P.O.- Agrico, Jamshedpur. 10. Jitendra Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Khagaul-II, Patna son of Late Harishchandra Pd. Singh, r/o- village Daya Nagar, P.S.- Ramnagar, District- Sitamarhi. 11. Aditya Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, , Raj Bhawan, Patna, s/o- Sri Krishna Kant Gupta, r/o- village- Madhpur, P.O.- Basudeopur, District- Munger. 12. Shankar Lal Das, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, IGMS, Patna, s/o- Sri Hardeo Lal Das, r/o- village Dumary, P.S.- Raghopur, District- Supaul. 13. Dhirendra Kumar Dhiraj, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Ashiana, Patna, s/o- Late Ram Narayan Raut, r/o- Mohalla Bakarganj, P.S.- Laheriasarai, District- Darbhanga. 14. Md. Quiser Parwayz, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electrical Supply Sub-Division, Board Colony, Patna, s/o- Abdul Rafat, r/o- Haroonnagar, Phulwarisharif, District- Patna. 15. Shiv Shankar Prasad, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, New Capital, Patna, s/o- Rajendra Prasad, r/o- village Kakandan, Bigha, P.O.- Jaitpur, District- Nalanda. 16. Sandip Saurabh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, MLA Flat, Patna, s/o- Sri Onkar Nath Jha, r/o- Bhatta Tatma Toli, P.S. & District- Purnea. 17. Madan Pandit, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, 2 Board Colony, Patna, s/o- Late Ramawatar Pandit, r/o- Kachaharipur, P.O.- Bandar Jhula, P.S.- Sonbarsa, District- Sitamarhi. 18. Ajay Kumar Sah, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, University (PESU), Patna, s/o- Shri Shiv Nandan Sah, r/o- House No. L/115, Road No. 22, S.K. Nagar, Patna-1. 19. Sanjay Kumar Jha, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Bankipore, Patna, s/o- Shashi Bushan Jha, r/o- village-Koily, P.S.- Nanpur, District- Sitamarhi. 20. Santosh Kumar Ram, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, University, Patna, s/o- Shri Deo Narayan Ram, r/o- village Kamarkala, P.O.- Jagarnathpur, District- Darbhanga. 21. Manish Kant, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Kankarbagh, Patna, s/o- Vijay Kumar, r/o- Budhan Mehta Nivas, Shivpur, Mahendru, District- Patna. 22. Umesh Kumar Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Ashoknagar, Patna, s/o- Late Ran Narayan Singh, r/o- village Tekanoura, P.O.- Kusumahar, District- Rohtas. 23. Prawin Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Karbigahia (East), Patna, s/o- Sri R.S. Singh, r/o- village Kura, District- Lohardagga, Jharkhand. 24. Chandra Shekhar Prasad Barnwal, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub-Division, Karbigahia, Patna, s/o- Arjun Pd. Barnwal, r/o- village Banheet, District- Jamui. 25. Anil Kumar Das, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Karbigahiya (West), Patna, s/o- Shri Nand Kishore Das, r/o- village & P.O.- Akbarngar, Dist- Bhagalpur. 26. Ritesh Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section , Karbigahiya, (West), Patna, s/o- Shri Umeshwar Thakur, r/o- Shivajeenagar, P.S.- Digha, District- Patna. 27. Rajeev Ranjan, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Bahadurpur, Patna, s/o- Shri Devi Prasad singh, r/o- Phulwaria, P.S.- Shehkaul, District- Bhagalpur. 28. Lal Bihari Hozara, Electric Supply Section, Kumharar, Patna, s/o- Hozard Hozara, r/o- village- Ratanmala, P.s.- Majhaulia, District- West Champaran. 29. Dalip Kumar, Electric Supply Section, Kankarbagh, (West), Patna, s/o- Dashrath Singh, r/o- village Samousar, P.O.- Baunera, District- Buxar. 30. Pravin Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Jakkanpur, Patna, s/o- Sri Upendra Pandit, r/o- village pakari, P.O.- Anisabad, District- Patna. 31. Rajan Kumar, Executive Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Division, Gardanibagh, Patna, s/o- Late Harihar Paswan, r/o- Mohalla North S.K. Puri, P.S. S.K. Puri, District- Patna. 32. Rameshwar Singh, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- division, Jakkanpur, Patna, s/o- Late Chandradhar Singh, r/o- village Keshopur, P.S.- Barhara, District- Bhojpur. 33. Anjani Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Anisabad, Patna, s/o- Late Kedar Nath Vishwakarma, r/o- Mohalla Mitra Mandal Colony, Anisabad, District- Patna. 34. Vikram Kumar, assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- division, Gardanibagh, Patna, s/o- Sri H.P. Sinha, r/o- 103A, Norwal Ashram Complex, Dariyapur Gola, Kadamkuan, District- Patna. 3 35. Manoj Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, S.K. Puri, Patna, s/o- Sri Bishwanath Prasad, r/o- village & P.S.- Daudnagar, District- Aurangabad. 36. Avinash Gaurav, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, S.K. Puri, s/o- Dr. R.N. Singh, r/o- Road, No. 17, Rajeev Nagar, District- Patna. 37. Chhabindra Prasad singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, A.N. College, Patna, s/o- Late Suva Singh, r/o- village Hanumannagar, P.S.- Jaynagar, District- Madhubani. 38. Dhananjay Upadhyaya, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Patliputra Colony, Patna, s/o- Sri D.D. Upadhaya, r/o- Village- Sonbarsha, P.s.- Barria, District- Balia (U.P.). 39. Ramendra Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Patliputra, Patna, s/o- Sri R.P. Singh, r/o- Mohalla Rajapur, Mainpura, P.S.- Patliputra, District-Patna. 40. Binod Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Sadakat Ashram, Patna, s/o- Late R.S. Singh, r/o- village Nadpura, P.S.- Dhanarua, District- Patna. 41. Birendra Ram, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Industrial Area, Patliputra, Patna, s/o- Ram Briksh Ram, r/o- village Mohammadabad, P.S.- Hussainabad, District- palamu, Jharkhand. 42. Sunil Kumar Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Rajendra Nagar, Patna, s/o- of Ram Nath Singh, r/o- B/6, Kanishka Apartment Bahadurpur, Patna-16. 43. Raj Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub-Division, Rajendra Nagar, Patna, s/o- Sri Rajendra Prasad, r/o- road No. 3, Saketpuri, Hanumannagar, District- Patna. 44. Manish Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Machhuatoli, Patna, s/o- Sri Mahendra Prasad Singh, r/o- Mohalla Sanjay Gandhinagar, Road No. 5, Patna. 45. Md. N.Rizvi, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Musallahpur, Patna, s/o- Late Mobinul Haque, r/o- New Colony, Patna. 46. Rajeev Jha, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Saidpur, Patna, s/o- Mahanand Jha, r/o- Mohalla Adarsh Colony, House No. 13, East Indira Nagar, District- Patna. 47. Durga Nand Jha, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Gaighat, Patna city, Patna, s/o- Sri Prabhash Chandra Jha, r/o- village, Mahuani, P.S.- Babuharhi, District- Madhubani. 48. Chandra Mani Kumar Nirala, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Main Bazar-1, Patna, s/o- Late Dev Nandan Prasad, r/o- village Nagma, P.s.- Nagarnausa, District- Nalanda. 49. Devendra Prasad Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Main Bazar -2, Patna, s/o- Gaya Singh, r/o- village Sabalpur, P.S. Rajgir, District- Nalanda. 50. Chandra Bhushan Prasad Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Ghaighat, Patna, s/o- Late Ramashish Prasad Singh, r/o- village madhurapur Tara, P.S.- Kalyanpur, District- Samastipur. 51. Jitendra Kumar Bhanu, s/o- Sri Ram Jatan Das, r/o- Mohalla Shivpuri, P.S.- Gardanibagh, District- Patna, the then Executive Electrical Engineer, presently Electrical Superintending Engineer, Electric Supply Circle, Arrah. 52. Santosh Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Meena Bazar, Electric 4 Supply Sub-Division, Gulzarbagh, Patna, s/o- Shri Suresh Chandra Singh, r/o- village Mathiya Bhopat, P.S.- Velwa Circle, District- East Champaran. 53. Amitabh Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Padri Ki Haweli, Patnacity (Patna), s/o- Arjun Prasad Singh, r/o- mohalla and P.S.- Sultanganj, District- Bhagalpur. 54. Krishna Deo Choudhary, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub-Division, Chowk, Patna City, Patna. s/o- Late Matiwer Chaudhary, r/o- vill- Sikohara, P.O.- P.S.- Bakhira, Distt. Sant kabirnagar (U.P.). 55. Santosh Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Chowk Electric Supply Sub- division, Patnacity (Patna), s/o- Late Bhuveneshwar Saw, r/o- Mananpur Bazar, District- Lakhisarai. 56. Sushil Kumar, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub- Division, Patna City (Patna) s/o- Sri Baidya Nath Prasad, r/o- K.M. Complex, Jail Road, Chakautimore, District- Gaya. 57. Jitendra Kumar, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Maroofganj, Patna City (Patna), s/o- Late Shiv Narayan Sah, r/o- Thana Road, Katoria, P.S.- Banka, District- Banka. 58. Fatingam, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, District- Patna, s/o- Late Nand Bihari Ram, r/o- Village Harika Kota, P.S.- Krishnagarh, Dist-Bijpur. 59. Harendra Kumar Singh, Junior Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Section, Katra, District- Patna, s/o- Late Ambika Pd. Singh, r/o- village Tanai, P.S.- Mohiuddinagar, District- Samastipur. 60. Prabhat, Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Sub-Division, Katra, District- Patna, s/o- Surendra Singh, r/o- village Mor, P.S.- Mokama, Distt. Patna. .... .... Petitioner/s Versus 1. The Bihar State Electricity Board, Patna through its Chairman, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Bailey Road), P.S.- Kotwali in the town and district Patna-800021. 2. The Secretary, Bihar State Electricity Board’s Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Bailey Road) P.S.- Kotwali, Town and District- Patna-800021. 3. The Chief Engineer (S and P), Bihar State Electricity Board, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Bailey Road), Town and District- Patna-800021 4. The Chief Engineer (O and M) Bihar State Electricity Board, Vidyut Bhawan, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg (Bailey Road), Town and District- Patna-800021 5. The General Manager-cum-Chief Manager, Patna Electricity Supply Undertaking (PESU), Mangles Road, Patna. 6. The Project Manager (Technical Services) Bihar State Electricity Board, New Punaichak, Patna-800023. 7. The Electrical Superintending Engineer, PESU (West), Mangles Road, Patna. 8. The Electrical Superintending Engineer PESU (East), Shivalya Market, Ashok Rajpath, Patna-800004. 9. The Accounts Officer, PESU (West), Mangles Road, Patna. 10. The Accounts Officer, PESU (East), Shivalaya Market, Ashok 5 Rajpath, Patna-800004. 11. The Electrical Executive Engineer, Transformer Repairing Workshop (TRW), Bihar State Electricity Board, Patna-800023. .... .... Respondent/s ============================================= Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Chitranjan Sinha, Sr. Advocate Mr. Anirban Kundu, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Vinay Kirti Singh, Advocate ============================================= 4 13-09-2011 Several employees in the categories of Junior Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Executive Engineer serving the Bihar State Electricity Board (for short “the Board”) have joined hands in assailing part of the communication dated 26.11.2010 issued by the Chief (Store and Purchase) of the Board (as contained in Annexure-1) which, according to them, is punitive in nature. This Court deems it apposite to quote the contents of the letter which are as follows: “Sub:- Deduction of amount from the salary of JEE/AEE/EEE in case of shortage of Transformer Oil in burnt/defective Transformer. Sir, While enclosing a copy of the proforma (TEMPLATE), I am directed to inform you that in case of shortage of Transformer Oil from the burnt/defective/new transformer, the amount is to be deducted from the salary of JEE/AEE/EEE in the manner indicated in the proforma i.e. 60% amount from the salary of J.E.E., 25% from the salary of A.E.E. and 15% from E.E.E. It is further informed that transformers can only be devaluated in TRW. Electrical Executive Engineer of concerned TRW will examine the devaluated transformer and if the shortfall in Transformer Oil is beyond the permissible limit he will inform the shortfall in the attached prescribed proforma and sent it to the concerned ESE/A.O. of the Circle with a copy to 6 Project Manager, Technical Services, Patna for deduction of amount as mentioned above. This will come in force from 01.12.2010.” Learned counsel for the petitioners, while assailing the first part of aforesaid order, submits that recovery of loss, if any, sustained by the Board is a punishment provided under Rule 49 of the Bihar Government Servant (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 2005 (for short “ the Rules”) for which a procedure has been laid down in Rule 55A thereof. It is contended with reference to the document placed at Annexure-5 that the authorities of the Board are giving effect to the said order without complying with the said procedure or without affording atleast an opportunity of submitting his/their explanation(s) by issuing show cause notice. It is thus contended that the manner in which the aforesaid decision of the Board is being implemented, is contrary to the provisions of the aforesaid Rules. Learned counsel for the respondent Board, with reference to the averments made in the counter affidavit, made attempt to highlight the background in which the respondent Board was compelled to issue the aforesaid communication dated 26.11.2010 (Annexure-1). On hearing the parties and on going through the pleadings on record, it appears that there is no controversy that the 2005 7 Rules govern the case of the employees of the respondent Board. It appears on perusal of the Rules that for inflicting minor punishment like recovery of loss sustained by the employer (Board), the authorities are required to comply with the Rules of Natural Justice by issuing show cause notice to the concerned employee and obtain his comments thereon. This Court, therefore, clarifies that in giving effect to the communication contained in letter No. 981 dated 26.11.2010 (Annexure-1), the respondent shall comply with the Rules of Natural Justice by issuing show cause notices to the concerned employees and obtaining his/their comment/explanation thereon. Learned counsel for the petitioner, at this stage, prays that the amount deducted from the salaries of the petitioners pursuant to Annexure-5 be refunded. In this connection, he refers to and relies on the averments made in paragraph Nos. 12 and 13 which read as under:- “12. That here it is also relevant to mention that the petitioners have neither been given any show cause notice nor any letter related to that have been served upon the petitioners concerned and yet process for deduction of salary has begun in terms of annexure-5 series. 13. That in one transaction the respondents concerned have made a list for the shortage of transformer oil monthwise and circlewise pertaining to the place of installation of the transformer and they ordered to deduct the amount from the salary of the JEE/AEE/EEE of the concerned offices of the circle.” 8 On going through the aforesaid averments, this Court does not finds that the deductions have already been made from the salary of the petitioners. In that view of the matter, this Court declines to grant the aforesaid reliefs. The application stands disposed of. PANKAJ KUMAR/- (Kishore K. Mandal, J)