HC allows TANGEDCO to conduct recruitment for 750 posts

: The Madras High Court has directed the state's power utility, TANGEDCO to go ahead with the process of recruitment to various posts including Assistant Engineer, based on the results of the written examination conducted last year.
Justice TS Sivagnanam passed the order last week while dismissing a batch of writ petitions filed by 51 persons, who have worked as apprentice in Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
The petitioners had challenged the December 2015 notification of TANGEDCO, which required the petitioners to undergo a written examination for selection to the posts.
The selection process was for filling up 750 vacancies to the post of Assistant Engineers, Technical Assistants and Field Assistants (Trainee).

Referring to a Supreme Court ruling, the judge said, the law laid down by the Apex Court in a civil appeal while interpreting the condition "other things be equal, a trained apprentice should be given preference over direct recruits" held that all candidates must have been subjected to the same selection process, that is same written test and interview.
"The law, as laid down by the Apex Court is clear and no such right accrues to the Apprentices," the judge observed.

The petitioners sought to declare the TANGEDCO notification as illegal besides praying for a direction to Corporation and its Chief Engineer (Personnel) to do away with the examination for the direct recruitments to the post of Assistant Engineer (Electrical), Assistant Engineer (Mechanical) and Assistant Engineer (Civil).

They also sought to direct the authorities to formulate a scheme for absorbing former apprentices as per the amended provisions of Section 22(1) of the Apprentices Act, 1961 Act.
The Judge further said, "It is evident that it is a policy decision taken by the Board concerning recruitment to the post referred above."
The three sources of recruitment have been mentioned, namely through the employment exchange, trained apprentices and candidates from the open market, he noted.
"The Board took into consideration the decision of the Hon'ble Division bench, which directed wide publicity while inviting applications not only restricting to sponsorship by the employment exchange or the Apprentices alone," he added.