HC upholds state power corp GM’s suspension order

Dehradun: The high court (HC) has dismissed a petition filed by Praveen Tandon, the general manager (legal) of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL), challenging his suspension order. The division bench, comprising Justice Manoj Tiwari and Justice Pankaj Purohit, refused to interfere with the suspension order issued by the managing director (MD) AK Juyal, stating that suspension does not constitute punishment.
Tandon was suspended last year in June after being accused of “dereliction of duty, negligence in discharging statutory duties, indiscipline and obstruction in statutory work”. His primary contention was that the board of directors, being the disciplinary authority, should have issued the suspension order, and that the in-charge MD lacked the jurisdiction to do so. However, a counter affidavit filed by the general manager (HR) of PTCUL asserted that the board of directors had delegated the power to the MD, who consequently possesses the authority to suspend the petitioner without requiring prior approval from the board.
The court emphasised that “no law mandates that only the disciplinary authority can suspend a govt servant. Given that the MD has been delegated the power of the board of directors to remove a general manager, the petitioner’s grounds for challenging the suspension order were deemed untenable.” HC also ordered the release of the subsistence allowance to the petitioner, subject to his fulfilment of the requisite conditions, within one week from the date of the order.