CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [1] IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP No. 1237 of 2009 Date of Decision: 14.07.2009 Paramjeet Singh ..Petitioner versus State of Punjab and others ..Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE T.S.THAKUR,CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA 1.Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2. Whether to be referred to the Reporters or not ? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present : Mr. H.S.Baath, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. P.S.Thaira, Advocate for respondents No. 3 and 4. ***** T.S.Thakur, C.J. (Oral) This petition filed in public interest prays for a mandamus directing respondents No.1 to 4 to make appointments/recruitments against available posts in the Punjab State Electricity Board after issuing proper public notices/advertisements regarding availability of such posts and after giving an opportunity to all eligible candidates to apply for consideration and appointment against the same. The petitioner's case as set out in the writ petition is that respondents No.3 and 4, namely, Punjab State Electricity Board and the Senior Executive Engineer serving in the same, are selecting and appointing their blue-eyed boys as Meter Readers and Bill Distributors in all the zones in which the State of Punjab has been divided for CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [2] collection and distribution of the bills etc. The petitioner alleges that there is no transparent, objective and non-discriminatory procedure nor any norms have been prescribed for evaluating suitability and merit of the candidates interested in applying against the available posts of Meter Readers and Bill Distributors. This, according to the petitioner leads to corruption within the Department apart from resulting in denial of legitimate opportunities to all those who are similarly situate and interested in working as Meter Readers and Bill Distributors. A mandamus directing the respondents to adopt a fair and transparent procedure for making such appointments has therefore been prayed for. Respondents have in response to the notice issued by this Court filed a counter affidavit followed by an additional affidavit in which it is, inter-alia, alleged that the Government of Punjab have imposed a complete ban on fresh recruitments in Punjab State Electricity Board. Consequently, no fresh appointments have been made in the cadre of Meter Readers or Bill Distributors ever since 1988 and 2002 respectively. It is further stated that as a large number of vacancies of Bill Distributors and Meter Readers exist in the Board, the absence of suitable employees on those posts would result in Board work suffering for want of manpower. The problem was, therefore, discussed at an appropriate level and instructions issued in the year 2006 allowing the Authorities concerned to engage qualified persons as Meters Readers/Bill Distributors on contract basis. The affidavit goes on to state that a Meter Reader employed on contract basis is paid @ Rs. 3.50 per meter reading in rural area and Rs. 2.50 per meter in urban area. The Bill Distributor is paid @ Rs. 2.50 per bill for CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [3] distribution in rural area and Rs. 1.50 per bill in urban area. No other allowances apart from the said payments are admissible to the people engaged on contract basis nor are any other benefits such as casual leave etc. granted to them. The affidavit further states that as per the information provided by the office of the Director/Personnel, Punjab State Electricity Board, Patiala, there are 167 Meter Readers and 280 Bill Distributors working in various offices of Punjab State Electricity Board on contract basis. The detail of these Meter Readers working in different zones is also given in para No. 6 of the additional affidavit filed by Shri Dhanwant Singh, Senior Executive Engineer, Operation Division, Jalalabad. It is alleged that the appointments are being made as stop gap arrangement on contractual basis to mitigate the problem arising out of non-recruitment of the requisite staff on regular basis. When this petition came up for hearing before us on 6.7.2009, we directed the respondent-Board to place on record the order by which a ban on recruitments was imposed by the State Government qua Punjab State Electricity Board. The respondents were also directed to indicate the amount being disbursed to Meter Readers and Bill Distributors engaged on contract basis annually. In compliance with the said direction, Mr. Thaira has filed an affidavit sworn by Mr. Hussan Lal, IAS, Secretary, Punjab State Electricity Board, in which the requisite details have been given . A perusal of the affidavit, however, shows that as against 167 Meter Readers said to be working, in the additional affidavit filed by Mr. Dhanwant Singh, Senior Executive Engineer, the number of Meter Readers working with the Board have been raised to 204. So also as against 280 Bill Distributors said to be CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [4] working in the Board as per the affidavit of Mr. Dhanwant Singh, the additional affidavit filed by the Secretary of the Board mentions the number of Bill Distributors to be 311. There is no explanation forthcoming either in the affidavit or from Mr. Thaira regarding this discrepancy in figures except that the later figures are accurate and based on the latest position. That apart from the affidavit, it appears that the Board is spending substantial amount towards payments to Meter Readers and Bill Distributors engaged on contract basis. The annual expenditure on these payments runs into around 3 Crores. The affidavit also places on record an order Annexure R-3, by which the Government had directed the Punjab State Electricity Board not to make any further recruitment and to “undertake a complete cadre review of its manpower for all the categories so that complete detailed justification could be arrived at for filling up of vacant posts or continuation thereof”. The ban on recruitments was placed by the State Government in exercise of its powers under Section 78-A of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 as early as on 27.04.2001. What is significant is that the Board had been directed to undertake a complete cadre review of its manpower for all the categories as is evident from para No.3 of the said order which reads as under:- “ The Punjab State Electricity Board is further directed to first undertake a complete cadre review of its manpower for all the categories so that complete detailed justification could be arrived at for filling up vacant posts/continuation of posts.” CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [5] It is not clear as to whether any cadre review has been undertaken by the Board nor is it clear whether the matter was ever considered either by the Board at its own level or by the State Government about the need for removal of the ban on recruitments in view of the pressing requirement of the Board for manpower. The result is that the Board has introduced a system of engaging such manpower on contract basis and incurring Crores of rupees expenditure annually on the same. What is disturbing, however, is that Board has not at any stage prescribed any transparent procedure or norms for making such appointments. All that has been referred to us is an order dated 10.07.2009 Annexure R-4, in which instructions for a transparent procedure to be adopted for engaging Meter Readers and Bill Distributors have been issued. We are, however, totally dissatisfied with the steps taken by the Board in the matter of regulating engagement of manpower on contractual basis and the process by which such engagement is made. In the ordinary course, we would have issued appropriate direction to the Board not to continue with the procedure of appointing Meter Readers and Bill Distributors but having regard to the fact that the State Government have themselves directed a review of the manpower requirement, we see no reason why the State Government should not undertake such a review and stipulate proper procedures and norms that are transparent and objective in nature to ensure that the process for appointment of Meter Readers and Bill Distributors is not vitiated by extraneous and corrupt motives that are more often that not bred in such situations on account of the arbitrary powers enjoyed by those who are authorised to make such selections. CWP No. 1237 of 2009 [6] We accordingly allow this petition but only in part and to the extent that the State Government shall review the issue regarding the ban on engagement of manpower required by the Punjab State Electricity Board. In case it comes to the conclusion that the ban deserves to be continued, and contractual appointments allowed to be made, it shall prescribe proper procedures and norms for engagement of those ready and willing to work on contractual basis as Meter Readers and Bill Distributors. We further direct that the entire process of review and streamlining the procedure and prescription of norms for engagement of contractual employees shall be initiated and concluded expeditiously but not later than three months from today. A copy of this order shall be delivered dasti to counsel for the Punjab State Electricity Board and Mr. Khosla, Addl. Advocate General, Punjab for compliance. No costs. (T.S.THAKUR) CHIEF JUSTICE (KANWALJIT SINGH AHLUWALIA) JUDGE 14.07.2009 'ravinder'