A division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and R.C. Khulbe of Uttarakhand HC dismissed the writ petition against the suspension of process of appointment of Managing Director of Uttarakhand Co-operative Dairy Federation Limited.
The bench held that suspension is justified when the respondent-Federation cannot afford to foot the bills of his salary and perks in light of their financial condition.
Facts:
The grievance of the petitioner is that though he was found to be the most meritorious candidate for being appointed as a professional Managing Director, Uttarakhand Co-operative Dairy Federation Limited, he has not been given appointment and, instead, respondent No. 5-Mr. Jaideep Arora, Joint Director, Dairy Development Department, Uttarakhand has been given the additional charge of Managing Director of the Uttarakhand Co-operative Dairy Federation Limited.
The earlier challenge raised by the petitioner was rejected by the Court, since he was not appointed as a regular professional Managing Director, but had only been given the additional charge, and consequently, the fact that he was not qualified to become a regular professional Managing Director was not found to be good enough to remove him from the additional charge, which he was discharging. Since respondent No. 3 did not proceed to make appointment of the professional Managing Director, this petition was preferred.
It was stated before the Court, when the matter was listed on 10.03.2022, that the State Government has taken a decision to put the appointment of the professional Managing Director on hold. This Court directed the respondents to file an affidavit disclosing reasons for not carrying forward the selection process to its logical conclusion.
Observations of the Court
The court noticed from the affidavit that the respondent-Federation does not have the financial condition to meet the financial obligations for the post of the Professional Managing. The process of appointment of professional Managing Director has been suspended keeping in view the financial condition of the Uttarakhand Cooperative Dairy Federation.
By virtue of Office Memorandum No. 538 dated 13.9.2021 Shri Jaideep Arora, Joint Director, Dairy Development Department has been given additional charge for executing the functions and obligations of the post of Managing Director in pursuance to Section 31-d of the Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies Act, 2003.
In the light of the aforesaid, it appears to the court that the reason provided by the respondents for not proceeding to make appointment of a regular professional Managing Director is reasonable, and the petitioner cannot insist that he should be appointed as a professional Managing Director when the respondent-Federation cannot afford to foot the bills of his salary and perks.
Decision:
The writ petition was dismissed as the court did not find any merit in the present petition and uphold that suspension of appointment in view of the financial conditions is justified.
Case: Manohar Singh Chauhan vs State of Uttarakhand and other
Citation: WRIT PETITION (S/B) No. 627 OF 2021
Coram: Justice Vipin Sanghi and R.C. Khulbe
Dated: 21.11.2022
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