High Court orders seperate appointments for two UP posts

The petitioner had prayed for quashing the impugned order of transfer,dated December 26,2009,whereby he was transferred from Aligarh to Hapur.

The Bench has put a stay on the transfer of the petitioner and has directed the state government to consider the petitioner’s case on its merit “after the constitution of a fresh independent committee”.

In the writ petition,the petitioner stated that he was posted as the Executive Engineer,Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd,Electricity Urban Distribution Division-III,Aligarh in July 2008. After around one-and-half years,he was transferred to Hapur in order to accommodate Syed Shah Nawaz Ahmad,an Executive Engineer in Electricity Distribution Division,Paschiinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam,Hapur,Ghaziabad.

The petitioner stated that injustice was meted out to him,violating the spirit of the judgment of the apex court,dated March 21,2007,in Suresh Chand Sharma Vs. Chairman UPSEB and others,which mandated the constitution of an independent committee to approve all the proposals for transfer and posting of the officers and staff of the Corporation.

The petitioner had informed that the independent committee comprising Desh Deepak Verma,Principal Secretary,Institutional Finance and Navneet Sehgal,state Secretary Energy,who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of UP Power Corporation Limited,was constituted for monitoring transfers and postings of the officers and staff of the corporation.

According to the petitioner,the object of appointing an independent committee had been negated as Navneet Sehgal also holds the post of Chairman and Managing Director,UPPCL and in that capacity,he is authorised to send proposals for transfer to the independent committee where he is a member in the capacity of the energy secretary. Sehgal’s holding of two post was against the principle of natural justice,alleged the petitioner.