Nainital, February 18 The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday cancelled the appointment of Prakash Chandra Dhyani, who was holding the additional charge of managing director of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (PITCUL), stating that it was in violation of the prescribed rules.
A division bench of Justice Ashish Naithani and Justice Subhash Upadhyay issued the order while hearing a petition filed in the matter.
The petition filed by chief engineer Rajiv Gupta and others challenged the government order issued on September 10, 2022, which granted Dhyani the additional charge of managing director.
According to the petitioners, due to the pending regular selection process, the post should have been assigned to the most senior eligible officer.
They argued that rule 9-A of the Uttarakhand (Determination of Selection and Appointment Procedure of Managing Director and Directors) Rules, 2021, requires an engineering graduate qualification for the post, which Dhyani allegedly does not possess.
Allowing the petition, the bench held that the rule cited was violated in the appointment.
The court stated that the educational qualifications prescribed in the 2021 rules are mandatory unless a legally valid exemption is granted, and in this case, the state government failed to clearly demonstrate that the exemption was properly utilized.
The court found that there was no cogent or rational basis on record to prove that any alternative qualification was accepted as equivalent to the required degree, and therefore, the appointment could not be legally valid.
The order stated that the government is free to reconsider the matter, but any new decision must be in strict compliance with the 2021 rules.
It stated that if the exemption is granted again, the government must provide objective and documented grounds and explain how the equivalence of qualifications was determined.
The court also clarified that it did not comment on the respondent's qualifications, leadership abilities, or suitability for the position.
It said that until a new appointment is made, the Uttarakhand government can make interim arrangements as per the law.