Bhagabati Prasad Banerjee, J. - (1.) The Writ petition was moved by the petitioners for a writ in the nature of mandamus commanding the respondents from taking any action pursuant to the Notice No. CS O/HG/84/533 dated 26th July, 1984 issued by the Chief Security Officer, West Bengal State Electricity Board and for quashing the said order. The case of the petitioners in short is that the petitioners were all enrolled as Home Guard which was a voluntary and unpaid service and only when they were called upon for any duty they were paid some allowances. Such Home Guards have been enrolled under the provision of the West Bengal Home Guards Act, 1962. Under section 3 of the said Home Guards Act, 1962, the Superintendent of Police of a District or the Commissioner of Police, Calcutta was given power to constitute for the district and/or for Calcutta, as the case may be, a body to called as Home Guard who would discharge such function in relation to the protection of persons, security or property or the public safty, as may be assigned to them, in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. The petitioners, after they were enrolled on diverse dates which have been set out in the Annexures to the petition, were called on for duty and they were performing such duties as Home Guards after receiving required training under the law as provided for the purpose.
(2.) The State Electricity Board, the Respondent No. 1 herein, sent a request to the Respondent No. 3, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Home Guard II for deputing Home Guard personnel from time to time in order to engage such personnel for the purpose of guarding various installations, equipments and machineries in the office premises of the Board located in various place in the City of Calcutta and pursuant to the said request made by the Board, the petitioners were deputed by the Respondent No. 3 to the said Board. On such deputation, the authority of the said Board appointed the petitioners as security guards in various offices which is set out in Annexure'A'to the petition and that of after deputation discharging their duties as security Guards.
(3.) The petitioners' further case is that while the petitioners were posted at different offices of the West Bengal State Electricity Board their services were terminated and the form of the order was that "Consequent to shifting of our (a) 225C, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Calcutta 20, (b) 25C, Karl Marx Sarani, Calcutta-700027 to Salt Lake area your services are no longer required with effect from 1.8.84." and accordingly the petitioners services under the said Board were terminated. The petitioners trained Home Guard Volunteers. The petitioner's case is that relying upon this direction of the Central Government, the Board had already absorbed by resolution dated 31st March, 1980, 16 Home Guards as Security Guards under the Board and that such absorption were made in permanent vacancies lying under the Board. It was further contended that the petitioners have been discriminated in not absorbing in the services of the Board even though the petitioners were duly qualified and were similarly placed like that of 16 Home Guards who were absorbed as Security Guards. It was further stated that the petitioners has applied to the Board for absorption as permanent employee of the Board but the Board did not consider the case of the petitioners for absorption in the permanent services of the Board. It was further alleged that the Board in its meeting dated 29th June, 1984 decided to fill up posts of Security Guards on selection basis and it was decided that minimum qualification and experience of Security Guard, I would be, inter alia, that the personnel must be "Ex-military/Ex-Police personnel and trained personnel like NVF/Home Guards". It was further stated that on or about May, 1984, the Board decided, to shift the office of the Board located at various places to Salt Lake City and decided that "till such time, the entire Security of the Bidyut Bhawan is taken at the hand by the Central Department of the Board. the existing Security Personnel of the respective offices should be utilised for guarding the offices under the administrative Control of the Deputy Secretary (Distt. Wing).;