Uttarakhand High Court
Jagdish Chand Pandey And Others ... ... vs State Of Uttarakhand & Another on 25 March, 2019
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2019 UTR 261, 2019 LAB IC (NOC) 241 (UTR)
Author: Manoj K. Tiwari
Bench: Manoj K. Tiwari
IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
Writ Petition (S/S) No. 354 of 2018
Jagdish Chand Pandey and Others ... Petitioners
Vs
State of Uttarakhand & another ... Respondents
Writ Petition No. 355 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 420 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 455 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 456 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2647 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2711 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2712 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2713 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2714 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2716 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2717 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2721 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2723 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2724 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2738 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2739 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2740 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2741 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2742 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2745 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2746 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2747 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2748 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2765 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2766 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 2922 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 3342 (S/S) of 2018
Writ Petition No. 4175 (S/S) of 2018
Mr. Arvind Vashisth, Senior Advocate with Mr. Shobhit Saharia, Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal,
Mr. Bhagwat Mehra, Mr. Siddharth Jain, Mr. Ashutosh Posti and Mr. M.C. Pant, learned
counsel for the petitioners.
Mr. N.P. Sah, learned Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand.
Mr. Vinay Kumar with Mr. R.C. Tamta and Mr. Akshay Latwal, Advocate holding brief of
Mr. N.S. Pundir, learned counsel for the respondent.
Hon'ble Manoj K. Tiwari, J.
1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.
2. Since common questions of fact and law are involved in these petitions, therefore, all these petitions are clubbed together and are being heard & decided by a common judgment. However, for the sake of convenience, facts of WPSS No. 354 of 2018 are being considered.
3. Petitioners (in WPSS No. 354 of 2018) participated in a selection for the post of Junior Engineer (Electrical & Mechanical) in Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. and Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd. According to the petitioners, persons having diploma in 5 different branches of Engineering were eligible for appointment as Junior Engineer 2 (Electrical & Mechanical), therefore, according to them, separate merit list was to be prepared in respect of each of the five different qualification holders. Since a common merit list was prepared in respect of five different qualification holders, therefore, petitioners have approached this Court challenging the common merit list. Another allegation, which was made by the petitioners in this writ petition, is that as many as 66 candidates have been selected, from one coaching Institute, which according to them indicates foul play in the selection process.
4. Mr. M.C. Pant, learned counsel for the petitioners in WPSS No. 2922 of 2018 submits that writ petition (WPSS No. 354 of 2018) is not maintainable, inasmuch as, the petitioners, after having participated in the selection, cannot turn around and challenge the selection process. He further submits that the findings recorded by the Inquiry Committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate, Haridwar, are based on no material and are perverse.
5. A short-counter affidavit was filed by Mr. Santosh Badoni, Secretary, Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission in Writ Petition No. 354 of 2018 (S/S). Para 10 and 11 of the said short-counter affidavit are reproduced below:-
"10. That the Commission after going through the inquiry report as well as the presentation given in the agenda found glaring irregularities in the conduct of the examination which created serious doubt about the fairness and secrecy of the examination conducted for the post of Junior Engineer (Electrical & Mechanical) on 05.11.2017 by the Commission. Keeping in view the aforesaid reasons stated in the decision taken by the Commission as well as in order to maintain the dignity, fairness, impartiality and transparency of the Commission 3 in conducting the examination for various posts, the Commission unanimously has taken the decision to cancel the examination for the post of Junior Engineer (Electrical & Mechanical) held on 05.11.2017 pursuant to the advertisement dated 21.09.2016 and to re-conduct the examination. True/photo copy of the decision taken by the Commission as Agenda No.-2 is being filed herewith and marked as Annexure No. SCA-4 to this affect.
11. That since the matter was pending before this Hon'ble Court, the Commission has decided to place the decision of the Commission alongwith report of the inquiry committee conducted by the District Magistrate Haridwar before this Hon'ble Court."
6. From the stand taken by the Selecting Body, which is extracted above, it appears that a inquiry was ordered and certain irregularities were found in the selection process and the Selecting Body has decided to cancel the entire selection process, however, the decision to cancel the selection has not been implemented because of pendency of these writ petitions before this Court.
7. In such view of the matter, there is no point in keeping these writ petitions pending. Accordingly, writ petitions are disposed of with liberty to the petitioners to make appropriate representation, within two weeks, to the Secretary, Energy, Government of Uttarakhand in respect of the inquiry report and the tentative decision taken by the Selecting Body to cancel the entire selection. The Secretary Energy, Government of Uttarakhand shall thereafter examine the matter and take appropriate decision, in accordance with law, within three months. Consequential order, if any, shall be passed within eight weeks from the date of final decision by the Secretary Energy.
48. It is made clear that no personal hearing would be given to anyone and Secretary (Energy) shall take decision independently, without being influenced by any observation made by the Selecting Body.
9. Pending application(s), if any, stands disposed of.
(Manoj K. Tiwari, J.) 25.03.2019 Aswal