Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
(Audit-Ii) vs Union Of India & Ors on 24 March, 2021
207 IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA
24.03.2021 CONSTITUTIONAL WRIT JURISDICTION
sb
Ct23 APPELLATE SIDE
(Via Video Conference)
WPA 7470 of 2021
Audit (Category-I) Association (Civil),
Office of the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I)
(Audit-II)
Vs.
Union of India & Ors.
Mr. Kallol Basu,
Mr. Rajib Ray,
Mr. S. K. Dutta
... For the petitioner.
Mr. Dipanjan Choudhury,
Mr. Suvrodal Choudhury,
Mrs. Priyanka Choudhury
... For the respondents no. 2, 3 and 4.
Affidavit of service and the supplementary
affidavit filed on behalf of the petitioner are taken on
record.
The petitioner is a recognized association of
Indian Audit and Accounts Department, Office of the
Principal Accountant (General and Sector Audit),
West Bengal, (hereinafter referred to as the said
association). The grievances of the members of the
said association are as follows:-
"1. Sr. Audit Officers (Sr. AOs) having Pay levels
10 and 11 of the Central Government pay
structure were assigned the duty of Presiding
Officer while Assistant Audit Officers (AAOs)
having pay levels 8 and 9 were allotted the
duty of Assistant Expenditure Observer. This
made the members of All India Audit and
Accounts Officers' Association feel humiliated.
2. Further, it may also be brought to notice that
the Sr. Audit Officers of the Department
perform duties as Branch Officers with
respect to the Sr. Auditors (Pay Level 6) as per
the hierarchical arrangement given blow:
Sr.AO (Branch Officer) AAO (Sectional Head)
S. Auditor/Auditor (Sectional Staff)
It was noticed that the Sr. Auditors as well as
their Branch Officers i.e. Sr. Audit Officers
both the cadres were assigned duties as
Presiding Officers. This is against the
hierarchical set up on allocation of duties and
has created grievances across all the members
of this cadre.
3. Moreover, while performing duties of Presiding
Officer, the Senior Audit Officers are required
to work under the command of Sector Officers
and report to them. The Service Gradation
/pay level of the officials assigned with the
duty as Sector Officers is better known to your
good office."
These grievances were ventilated by the
said association by a representation dated 15th
February, 2021 to the Chief Electoral Officer, West
Bengal, (appearing at page 49 of the writ petition).
The members of the said association say
that they were and are still ready and willing to
perform the election duty but the assignment of the
election duty shall be commensurate to their post
and grade in case of allocation of the duty. The
petitioners say that Senior Audit Officer (Sr. AOs)
having pay levels 10 and 11 of the Central
Government pay structure are assigned the duty of
Presiding Officer while Assistant Audit Officer (AAOs)
having pay levels 8 and 9 are allotted the duty of
Assistant Expenditure Observer which is admittedly
above the Presiding Officer. Thus, a junior officer,
according to the petitioner is placed over and above a
senior officer. The petitioner says that this is in
derogation of the instructions of the Election
Commission of India in its letter
No.464/INST/2009/EPS dated 16th February, 2010
and as such should be interfered with by this Court
in exercise of its writ jurisdiction.
On behalf of the respondents no.2, 3 and 4
it is submitted that the election process has
commenced with the issuance of Notification on 26th
February, 2021 and shall continue till the elections
results have been finally declared and during this
period the only moto should be smooth operation of
the election process. This Court, therefor, should not
intervene in the matter. The respondents no. 2, 3 and
4 rely upon a judgment report in 2004 (7) SCC 492
(Manda Jaganath vs. K. S. Rathnam & Others), in
particular paragraph 18 thereof in support of his
contention. It is further submitted that the plea taken
by the members of the association is likely to
interfere with the smooth functioning of the election
process. It is also submitted by the State
respondents that the members of the said association
did not joint the training programme despite being
called for and as such show cause notice has to
issue.
This is disputed by the petitioner. In reply,
the petitioner says that they never had nor intend to
interfere with the smooth operation of the election
process. In fact, after finding their self-respect and
dignity being compromised on being placed below
their juniors, the members of the said association
joined the training programme and have also
undergone the same.
Without going into the allegation and the
counter allegation at this stage, I think justice will be
subserved if the respondents can resolve the issue by
scrutinizing their allotment of work so that a junior
officer is not assigned a work which will mean that
the said junior is placed above the senior thereby
infringing the dignity and self-respect of the members
of the said association. This exercise can be
undertaken as the members of the said association
have been requisitioned for election duty at the last
phase of the election.
The petitioner shall furnish the names of
the 98 members who have been allotted election
duties with specific assignment to each one of them
and the places wherein they have been so engaged by
the respondents by 25th March, 2021.
The matter is adjourned till day after
tomorrow (26.03.2021) for further consideration.
(Arindam Mukherjee, J.)
