Delhi HC dismisses with Rs 50K costs bar body's plea challenging reappointment of RCT chairperson
New Delhi, Mar 11: The Delhi High Court has dismissed with Rs 50,000 costs a petition by a bar body challenging the reappointment of retired Justice K S Ahluwalia as Chairperson of the Railway Claims Tribunal, saying any attempt to "vilify judges" without reasonable basis cannot be permitted.
The high court said the petition filed by Rail Dawa Bar Association, Lucknow, is a malafide attempt to throw mud on the reputation of the incumbent and a gross abuse of process.
"In the opinion of this court, the entire attempt in this petition on behalf of the lawyers' association is to raise aspersions against the duly constituted Tribunal. Accordingly, considering the nature of submissions made in court and in the pleadings, the writ petition is dismissed.
"It is made clear that any attempt to vilify judges, without any reasonable basis, be it judges of constitutional courts, trial courts or judges presiding over quasi-judicial bodies cannot be permitted," Justice Prathiba Singh said in an order which was passed on March 3 and made available on the high court's website on March 10.
The court said costs of Rs 50,000 shall be paid by the petitioner body to the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee within four weeks.
The petition was filed by the lawyers' association seeking direction to call the entire official records from respondents Centre and Railway Board -- leading to the decision to again appoint retired Justice K S Ahluwalia as the Chairman of Railway Claims Tribunal, New Delhi.
The plea sought quashing and setting aside of the decision to re-appoint Justice Ahluwalia to the post.
It also sought direction to the authorities concerned to frame rules and regulations laying down a fair and transparent selection procedure for appointment to the posts of Chairman, Vice Chairman (Judicial), Vice Chairman (Technical), Member (Judicial) and Members (Technical) in the Railway Claims Tribunal, which are posts of public importance in a quasi-judicial authority.
The high court said it noticed that apprehensions have been expressed in the past about false claims filed before railway tribunals and during the submissions, it was stated that several cases were transferred from the Lucknow Bench.
"Thus, the petition appears to have been filed due to some oblique motives," it said.
The court perused the affidavit filed by the Centre in response to the petition and said it showed that the Search-Cum-Selection Committee was duly constituted in accordance with the orders passed by the Supreme Court as also the applicable Act and Rules.
In the rejoinder, the petitioner alleged the committee just "handpicked out of a hat" five eligible candidates even though there were more than 60-70 eligible persons and that the whole exercise is "fishy and clearly smacks of favoritism and nepotism".
Perusing the document, the high court said, "However, the language used in the rejoinder (by petitioner) clearly shows that the intention is to simply raise baseless and scandalous allegations. The rejoinder smacks of sensationalism which uses completely unbecoming language. Wild allegations are made by the petitioner without verification of facts or law."
The court said the intention of the petitioner appeared to be simply to besmirch various individuals for some inexplicable reason, rather than to raise grounds within the confines of law.
The entire process which has been explained in the counter affidavit of the Ministry of Railways shows all the requisite safeguards have been followed and the appointment process conducted in accordance with the applicable Act and Rules, it said.
"After having perused the counter affidavit and the rejoinder filed by the petitioner, this court has noted that the present writ petition, in fact, is a mala fide attempt to throw mud on the reputation of the incumbent and is a gross abuse of process. Unnecessary and scandalous allegations have been made in the rejoinder which this Court does not condone.
"The process of appointment has been explained in the counter affidavit and has been perused by the court. None of the grounds which have been raised in this writ petition are made out for setting aside of the said appointment/reappointment," the court said.
It said it was clear that the petition and the pleadings filed by the petitioner are "nothing but an attempt towards undermining the dignity of the current Chairman of the Railway Claims Tribunal and impede in the functioning of the Railway Claims Tribunal".
Initially, Justice Ahluwalia took over charge as Chairperson of the tribunal on July 10, 2019 and retired on May 30, 2022 upon attaining the age of 65 years. He was reappointed to the post in August 2022.
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T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
