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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 30: The Delhi High Court (HC) has ruled that the government is not bound by recommendations of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for appointment of senior officials in public sectors as the board’s role "is only advisory in nature". The court’s ruling came on a petition by former Cement Corporation of India (CCI) chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) Anand Darbari seeking direction to the government to take appropriate decision regarding extension of his tenure as recommended by PESB, which was dismissed.
Upholding the decision of the Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) which had turned down the PESB recommendations regarding extension to Darbari beyond January 1, 1999, Justice N G Nandi said the petitioner had no "legal right", as "the recommendations by the PESB were only advisory in nature with no binding effect" on the government.
On Darbari’s claim that the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) had recommended implementation of a rehabilitationpackage for the public sectors under which PESB had approved extension of his tenure, the court said the government records show that "no rehabilitation package is under implementation".
The government had said that one of the reasons for not granting extension to Darbari was his "integrity is doubtful" and the public sector company had suffered losses amounting to Rs 700 crore during his tenure.
The government in its affidavit had stated that the networth of CCI was "eroded completely" during his tenure, which consequently became a sick unit and was referred to BIFR. "it inter alia adversely affected the future of more than 5,000 employees," it said.
The Government took the stand that appointments of chief executives and functional directors of public sector undertakings were of a "contractual nature" for a specified period and did not envisage any automatic extension till superannuation. Darbari was relieved from his post on June 6 last year and his successor had brought to the notice of thegovernment "some glaring irregularities" during his tenure which included appointment of about 200 employees on ad hoc basis in violation of the prescribed recruitment rules, the affidavit stated.
"The petitioner (Darbari) by misusing his position had availed of some undue financial benefits like LTC, leave encashment, car advance without following the applicable rules and regulations in utter disregard to the financial health of the company," it had said.
The government had said that CCI production fell from 31.61 lakh tonnes in 1991-92 to a low of 9.85 tonnes during 1997-98 with losses rising to Rs 159.41 crore. The total loss during the six-year period was to the tune of Rs 611 core, the affidavit stated.
However, the court observed that in an industrial concern, loss incurred by it could be for a variety of factors and they could not be attributed to the "person concerned".
