Upholding the directions issued by the authorities concerned for entrusting census duties to the employees of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the Allahabad high court dismissed a writ petition filed by the North Central Zone Insurance Employees, saying that authorised authority/zonal officer has not committed any error or illegality in issuing orders.
The petitioner North Central Zone Insurance Employees, a union of employees, had sought quashing of the decision to engage LIC employees in census work. Dismissing the writ petition, Justice Dinesh Pathak said, “This court is of the considered opinion that the authorized authority/zonal officer has not committed any error or illegality in issuing orders in exercise of delegated power directing the employees of the LIC to discharge duties as enumerators/supervisors to facilitate the work of census operations.”
“Further, the writ petition contains only a vague prayer seeking quashing of the decision to engage employees of the LIC for census work and no specific challenge has been made to any particular order,” the court said.
During the course of hearing, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that under section 4-A of the census Act, 1948, only employees of local authorities can be requisitioned for performing census duties as enumerators/supervisors.
He further submitted that the employees of the LIC do not fall within the definition of “local authorities” as defined under section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Therefore, entrustment of census duties upon them is wholly unsustainable in the eyes of law.
{{/usCountry}}He further submitted that the employees of the LIC do not fall within the definition of “local authorities” as defined under section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Therefore, entrustment of census duties upon them is wholly unsustainable in the eyes of law.
{{/usCountry}}On the other hand, the counsel for the government of India contended that section 4-A of the Census Act, 1948 cannot be read in isolation and has to be constructed conjointly with section 6 (1)(e) and 7(c) of the Act, 1948, which specifically contemplate engagement of employees of factories, firms and establishments for census work.
He emphasised that the LIC comes within the ambit of a ‘commercial establishment’ and, therefore, engaged of its staff for census operations is well within the domain of the Act, 1948.
“Conjoint reading of section 4, 4-A, 6(1)(e), 7(c) of the Act, 1948 read with rule 3 of the Rules, 1990 leaves no room for doubt that employee of any establishment can legally be engaged for census duties. Once appointed or directed, they are under the statutory obligation to perform such duty, which is treated as a public duty under the Act, 1948. The expression ‘any official or any person’ employed in Rule 3 is of wide amplitude and cannot be restricted only to employees of local authority or government departments”, the court said in its judgment dated May 29.