KRISHNA DEVI Vs. HARYANA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) KRISHNA Devi wife of late Sunder Dass has filed this petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India for the issuance of a writ of mandamus or a direction to the respondents to give employment to her son Rajesh Kumar under the Ex-gratia Scheme of the Board. Briefly stated, the facts of the case as mentioned in the writ petition are as follows:2. The husband of the petitioner late Sunder Dass joined the service of the Board as a work-charge-T-Mate in the regular scale of the post on 5. 1. 1973 in the Rural Electrification Division, Karnal. He served the Board with utmost devotion and he expired on 12. 3. 1984 when he was posted in Operation Sub-Division, Indri under the Executive Engineer, Sub-Urban Division, Karnal. The deceased at the time of his death, had two sons and one daughter. The older son at the time of the his death was about 13 years old and was studying in the school. Immediately after the death of the husband of the petitioner, the petitioner made an application for employment as she was completely rendered helpless on account of the death of her husband. Since her sons and daughter were minor, she made an application to the Executive Engineer for appointing her as a Peon. The application of the petitioner was recommended by the Executive Engineer on 26. 3. 1984 vide Annexure P-1 for the appointment of the petitioner as Peon but she could not be appointed and she was given to understand that as and when the dependent son of the deceased namely Rajesh Kumar becomes major, he would be given employment. Rajesh Kumar passed his Matriculation examination with 1st Division in June, 1986 and thereafter, the petitioner made an application to the respondent-Board through the Executive Engineer. A copy of this application is attached with the petition as Annexure P-2. In the meantime, Rajesh Kumar continued his education as he was still not 18 years of age. He passed his B. A. in August, 1991. As the petitioner had not heard anything about the application for employment of her son, so she alongwith her son Rajesh Kumar met the Chairman and submitted application of her son Rajesh Kumar alongwith an affidavit on the asking of the Chairman of the Board. The Chairman assured her that the application of her son shall be considered sympathetically. The basic instructions of the respondent-Board regarding providing ex-gratia facilities for the family of the deceased employee are contained in Annexure P-ll and the relevant clause (v) of the said instructions is reproduced below:

(2.) IT has further been stated in the petition that petitioner's husband had served the Board for more than 11 years and Rajesh Kumar who was minor at the time of the death of his father, deserved to be employed under the Ex-gratia Scheme of the Board. It has been further stated in the petition that the Board has been giving employment to the dependents of work-charge employees who had put in even less than 5 years of service and also to the dependants of daily wage workers under its Ex-gratia Scheme and by not allowing employment to Rajesh Kumar dependent son of petitioner's husband, it tantamounts to discriminatory treatment to the petitioner. It has been further stated in the petition that in a similar case, this Court has allowed Civil Writ Petition No. 14638 of 1992- Shingari Devi v. Haryana State Electricity Board, on 1. 2. 1993.

(3.) WRITTEN statement has been filed on behalf of the respondents by the Executive Engineer, Sub Urban Division No. l, Haryana State Electricity Board, Karnal. In reply to para 3 it has been stated in the written statement that the husband of the petitioner died on 12. 3. 1984 and at that time, there were no instructions to give Exgratia employment to the dependents of the deceased work-charge/daily wages employees. It was further submitted in the written statement that the instructions regarding employment under Ex-gratia Scheme in case of work-charge/daily wages employees were introduced with effect from 14. 8. 1985 vide memo. No. 82/83/nge/g-1281/l-3 dated 14. 8. 1985 (Annexure P-12) for dependents of those persons who died as a result of fatal accidents in the discharge of their duties after they had rendered five years service in case of work charged employees and ten years service in case of daily wage employees, therefore, the claim of the petitioner was not covered under the Board's instructions. Averment made in para 4 of the petition has been admitted. Averment made in para 6 of the petition to the effect that the petitioner immediately after her husband's death, applied for the post of Peon has been admitted. In para 7, it had been stated that para 7 of the petition is admitted to the extent that the application of the petitioner's son for employment was moved to the Board for sympathetic consideration but the same was not considered in relaxation of the standing instructions of the Board as the petitioner had already one working son. It has been admitted that a similar petition has been allowed by a Division Bench of this Court.