- (1.) THESE are two special appeals under Section 18 of the Rajasthan High Court ordinance, one by the State of Rajasthan and the other by the Rajasthan State electricity Board, Jaipur (hereinafter to be referred to be the Board) against the order of a learned Single Judge of this Court dated 17th October, 1968, quashing the order Ex. 1 dated 29th June, 1967, of the Chairman of the Board, retiring the respondent Shri Shrikishan from service and further directing the respondent State govt. and the Board not to give effect to the order qua the petitioner Shri shrikishan. Both these appeals shall be disposed of by this common order.
(2.) THE relevant facts may be briefly stated as follows:-The respondent Shri Shrikishan is a resident of Kishangarh and was born on 1-7-1910. He joined Government service in the erstwhile State of kishangarh as a wireman in the State Power House. With the formation of Rajasthan, the respondent became the employee of the Stale of rajasthan. He was a Head Line-man with effect from 1-4-1950. Sometime in the year 1957. (on 28-6-1957) the Rajasthan State electricity Board was constituted, in pursuance of the relevant provisions of the Electricity Supplies Act, 1948 (hereinafter to be referred to as the act ). After the formation of the Board the State Government issued directions under Section 78-A of the Act vide order Ex. A dated 12th february, 1958, placing the services of the employees of the Electrical and mechanical Department excluding the Electrical Inspectorate of the State at the disposal of the Board. This order indicated the manner of regulation of the service conditions as follows:- (1) The services of the Govt. employees of the Electrical and mechanical Department both permanent and temporary shall be provisionally placed at the disposal of the Rajasthan electricity Board with effect from 1st July, 1957. (2) The Board shall be required to permit each Government servant to exercise option either to:-- (a) accept the new grades and service conditions framed by the Board under its regulations; or (b) Continue in the present grades and service conditions except in regard to conduct and discipline rules: or (c) obtain relief from Government service by claiming pension or gratuity as may be admissible on abolition of posts under the Rajasthan Service Bales (Rules 215 to 226 ). (3) In case of permanent Govt. servant of the Electrical and mechanical Department opting to continue in the service of the board subject to these existing conditions, the grant of pension is guaranteed by the Government subject to an arrangement to be made with the Board, (4) The Government servants are to be permited to avail themselves of leave earned under the Government after their transfer to the Board to draw the salary therefore, in accordance with an arrangement to be made with the Board. " It does not appear from the record whether the Board took any action to create new grades or service conditions but it is a common ground that there arose no occasion for the employees provisionally transferred to exercise any option provided in Clause (2) of the order Ex, A. It may be incidentally mentioned that sometime in the year 1963 the Board prepared the draft standing orders for laying down the conditions of the service of the employees providing the age of superannuation of its employees at "55" and submitted them before the certifying officer in accordance with the Standing Orders Act, 1946. The Union of the workers opposed the certification of the standing order proposed by the Board and suggested the fixation of the age of superannuation at "60" and not "55", The certification Officer did not certify the order about the age of superannuation and we are told that the age of superannuation was left to be determined by the past practice. On 13th June," 1967, the Government of Rajasthan issued orders bearing no. F. 1 (42) FD (Exp-Rules) 67-1 amending Rule 56 of the Rajasthan Service rules (hereinafter to be referred to as the Service Rules) and substituting "55" years as the age of superannuation in place of "58" years. The said order was endorsed to the Chairman of the Board. In pursuance of that order, on 29th June, 1967. Chairman of the Board, issued the order Ex. 1 retiring the respondent Shri shrikishan from service. Aggrieved by this order, the respondent Shri Shrikishan submitted writ petition in this Court on the following grounds:- 1. That he was not employee of the State and could not have been retired in terms of Government Notification dated 13-6-1967 by which the State Employees were retired. Consequently, the order Ex. 1 could not be issued. 2. The respondent Shri Shrikishan also referred to the absence of the certification of the standing order in relation to superannuation age and contended that in the absence of a standing order duly certified he could not have been retired by the Board.
(3.) THE writ was opposed by the appellants. The reply of the Board was that the services of the respondent like other employees of the Power Houses were provisionally placed at the disposal of the Board and that he was only on deputation with the Board and never came to be absorbed in the service of the board and that he could be retired on reaching the age of 55 years in terms of the service Rules as amended in June, 1967. It was also urged that even after the transfer of the Power Houses by the State Government to the Board, the State government continued to exercise disciplinary control over employees whose services were placed at the disposal of the Board, In the reply as also by means of a separate application the Board also contended the Court should not exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction having regard to a serious dispute on a question of fact between the parties viz. whether the petitioner was or was not an employee of the state. The State filed a separate reply more or less on the same lines.;