Postal staff’s plea for exemption from poll work rejected

The Bombay high court (HC) has rejected the plea of postal staff seeking exemption from poll duty on the grounds that the department is working at half its sanctioned

The Bombay high court (HC) has rejected the plea of postal staff seeking exemption from poll duty on the grounds that the department is working at half its sanctioned strength.

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The employees from post offices in the western suburbs had filed the petition after the Election Commission of India (ECI) requisitioned them for the Assembly polls.

The bench held that in the larger interest of the public, the staff should report for election duty but also suggested that the electoral officer should schedule training for the employees as per their work schedule.

The division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel passed the order while hearing the petition of the postal employees from Borivli and Kandivli and other post offices from the western suburbs. The bench was informed by advocate Parag Vyas that while the sanctioned workforce was 1,521, there were only 768 employees carrying out regular duty. Therefore, if they had to go for poll duty and training sessions prior to election day, the work of the said post offices would be affected, he submitted.

However, the HC dismissed the petition.