Telangana High Court
Ashish Kumar Goyal vs The Electronics Corporation Of ... on 14 March, 2022
Bench: T.Vinod Kumar
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE T. VINOD KUMAR
Writ Petition No.12878 of 2022
ORDER:
This Writ Petition is filed questioning the Proceedings dated
04.02.2022, whereunder the petitioner, who is working as Technical
Officer in Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Hyderabad,
has been transferred to Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited
(NPCIL), Kaiga District, Uttara Kannada of Karnataka State.
2. When the present Writ Petition is taken up, though an initial
objection was taken by the learned counsel for the respondents
regarding the petitioner approaching this Court directly without
exhausting the remedy available before the Central Administrative
Tribunal (for short, 'the Tribunal')), on the ground that the ECIL comes
under the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India,
especially under Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which is one of the
organizations included in the list of governmental organizations for the
purpose of jurisdiction of the Tribunal under the provisions of
Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 (for short, 'the Act'), learned Senior
Counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner
had initially approached the Tribunal and as the Tribunal did not
entertain the Original Application filed by the petitioner, he approached
this Court by filing the present Writ Petition, and therefore, it is only
this Court which can exercise the jurisdiction under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India.
3. On this Court brining to the notice of the learned Senior Counsel
appearing for the petitioner as to the judgment of this Court in
Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad
represented by its Director (Personnel) V RS Natarajan V/s.
State of Andhra Pradesh represented by its Secretary Labour
and Factories, Hyderabad1, and the judgment of Madurai Bench of
Madras High Court in W.P.(MD) No.(SR) 29869 of 2020 in the case of
A.Maheswari V/s. The Deputy Chief Executive
(Administration), Nuclear Fuel Complex, Department of Atomic
Energy, Hyderabad2, learned counsel would submit that the nuclear
fuel complex is an independent entity under the Department of Atomic
Energy, and as such, the view expressed by the Madurai Bench of
Madras High Court may not strictly be applicable to this case.
4. However, a reading of the judgment of this Court in
Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad''s case (1
supra) indicates that ECIL also comes under Atomic Energy Regulatory
Board and once such an organization is covered under Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board, it would have to be considered as a Governmental
2012 (6) ALD 697
CDJ 2020 MHC 4558
organization conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal under the Act. Once
it was held that the provisions of the Act are applicable to the ECIL, the
petitioner should be relegated to approach the Tribunal to avail the
remedy by filing an Original Application before the Tribunal and not
before this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
5. At this stage, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the
petitioner would submit that instead of the petitioner being relegated
to the Tribunal, it would be beneficial to the petitioner, if this Court
were to show indulgence in directing the respondents not to take any
disciplinary action against the petitioner for not complying with the
order dated 04.02.2022, if the petitioner joins at the new place of
posting within a time frame that may be specified by this Court.
6. Learned counsel appearing for the respondents would submit
that the disciplinary enquiry is contemplated against the petitioner for
not abiding by the order dated 04.02.2022, whereunder 5 employees
of various cadres of the respondents - corporation have been
transferred to different places and it is only the petitioner who has not
joined the service.
7. Learned counsel for the respondents would however fairly admit
to the fact that the petitioner has been running between this Court and
the Tribunal during the interregnum, and thus, seeking redressal of his
grievance of being transferred to NPCIL, Kaiga, not that as if he has
shown disobedience by not joining within time.
8. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, as
noted above, this Court is of the view that the petitioner can be
directed to report to the new place of posting as specified in the order
dated 04.02.2022 on or before 21.03.2022. Upon the petitioner
reporting to the new place of posting in terms of order dated
04.02.022, the respondents shall not take any further disciplinary
action against the petitioner for disobedience to the order of transfer.
9. Subject to the above direction, the Writ Petition is closed.
Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this writ petition shall stand
closed. No order as to costs.
_________________
T. VINOD KUMAR, J
Date:14.03.2022
GJ
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE T. VINOD KUMAR
Writ Petition No.12878 of 2022
14.03.2022
GJ
