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TMI Blog1967 (4) TMI 195X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t, in my judgment, "State" within the meaning of Art. 12 of the Constitution. Appeal dismissed. - Civil Appeal No. 466 of 1966 - - - Dated:- 3-4-1967 - BHARGAVA, VISHISHTHA, RAO, K. SUBBA , SHAH, J.C., SHELAT, J.M. AND MITTER, G.K., JJ. For the Appellant : S.T. Desai, H. K. Puri and K. K. Jain. For the Respondent : R.K. Garg and S. C. Agarwala JUDGMENT: Bhargava, J. The appellant in this appeal is Electricity Board of Rajasthan, Jaipur (hereinafter referred to as "the Board"), a body corporate constituted on 1st July, 1957, under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (No. 54 of 1948). Before the constitution of the Board, the supply of electricity in the State of Rajasthan was being controlled directly by a department of the State Government named as the Electrical and Mechanical Department. Respondent No. 1, Mohan Lal, as well as respondents 4 to 14 were all permanent employees of the State Government holding posts of Foremen in the Electrical and Mechanical Department. On the consti- tution of the Board, the services of most of the employees, including all these respondents, were provisionally placed at the disposal of the Board by a notification issued by th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... hat he was entitled to equality of treatment with respondents 4 to 14, and, inasmuch as he had not been considered for promotion with them by the Board, the Board had acted in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The Board contested the petition on two grounds. The first ground was that respondent No. 1 had never become a permanent servant of the Board and never held any substantive post under it, so that he could not claim to be considered for promotion with respondents 4 to 14. The second ground was that the Board could not be held to be "State" as defined in Article 12 of the Constitution and, consequently no direction could be issued to the Board by the High Court under Art. 226 or Art. 227 of the Constitution on the basis that the actions of the Board had violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The High Court rejected both these grounds, accepted the plea of respondent No. 1, quashed the order of promotion of respondents 4 to 14 and issued a direction to the Board to consider promotions afresh after taking into account the claims of respondent No. 1. The Board has now come up in appeal to 'this Court, by special leave, against this order of the High Co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t and the Board, in dealing with respondent No. 1 as well as the other respondents, treated them as if they had become employees of the Board. The services of respondent No. 1 were placed at the disposal of the Public Works Department where he remained for a period of a little over three years, but he was all the time treated there as on deputation. At that time, in the order posting him to the Public Works Department, it was laid down that he would retain his lien in the Power Department. According to Mr. Desai, the Power Department mentioned in this order was meant to refer to the Electrical and Mecha- nical Department of the Government which used to be popularly known by that name. We, however, found in the judgment of the High Court that the High Court attempted to gather the meaning of the expression "Power Department" by questioning the counsel for the Board and the officer-in- charge of the Board who appeared before the High Court and was able to discover that there is no Power Department existing as such and that this was just another name for the State Electricity Board. On this view of the High Court, the order of the Government dated 27th January, 1960, would indicate th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nditions already applicable to them when they were in the Electrical and Mechanical Department. Since the Board did not frame any new grades or new service conditions, it is clear that respondent No. 1 as well as respondents 4 to 14 continued to be governed by the old grade-, and service conditions applicable to them when they were servants of the State Government in the Electrical and Mechanical Department where they were all serving as Foremen. All of them being governed by identical rules, it is clear that respondent No. 1 was entitled to be considered for promotion under the Board on the basis of equality with respondents Nos. 4 to 14. On the second point that the Board cannot be held to be "State" within its meaning in Art. 12 of the Constitution, Mr. Desai urged that, on the face of it, the Board could not be held to be covered by the authorities named therein, viz., the Government and Parliament of India and the Government and the Legislature of each of the States and local authorities, and the expression "other authorities", if read ejusdem generis with those named, cannot cover the Board which is a body corporate having a separate existence and has been constituted prima ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... slative or executive functions of a State or through whom or through the instrumentality of whom the State exercise its legislative or executive power." The latest case on the point cited by Mr. Desai is the decision of the Punjab High Court in Krishan Gopal Ram Chand Sharma v. Punjab University and Another(A.I.R. 1966 Punj. 34), where the decision ,given in the case of University of Madras (A.I.R. 1954 Mad.67 ) was followed and the principle laid down therein was approved and applied. On the basis of these decisions, and the principles laid down therein, it was urged that an examination of the provisions of the Electricity Supply Act will show that the Board is an autonomous body which cannot be held to be functioning as an agent of the Executive Government and, consequently, it should be held that it is not "State" within the meaning of Art. 12 of the Constitution. In our opinion, the High Courts fell into an error in applying the principle of ejusdem generis when interpreting the expression " other authorities" in Art. 12 of the Constitution, as they overlooked the basic principle of interpretation that, to invoke the application of ejusdem generis rule, there must be a distin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... "other authorities" is wide enough to include within it every authority created by a statute and functioning within the territory of India, or under the control of the Government of India; and we do not see any reason to narrow down this meaning in the context in which the words "other authorities" are used in Art. 12 of the Constitution. In Smt,. Ujjam Bai v. State of Uttar Pradesh([1963] I S.C.R. 778), Ayyangar, J., interpreting the words "other authorities" in Art. 12, held : "Again, Art. 12 winds up the list of authorities falling within the definition by referring to 'other authorities within the territory of India which cannot obviously be read as ejusdem generis with either the Government and the Legislatures or local authorities. The words are of wide amplitude and capable of comprehending every authority created under a statute and functioning within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India. There is no characterisation of the nature of the 'authority' in this residuary clause and consequently it must include every type of authority set up under a statute for the purpose of administering laws enacted by the Parliament or by the State includ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dent No. 1, the Board did not treat him on terms of equality with respondents Nos. 4 to 14 and did not afford to him -the opportunity for being considered for promotion to which he was entitled on that basis. The High Court was, therefore, right in allowing the petition of respondent No. 1. The appeal is dismissed with costs. Shah, J. I agree with the order proposed by Bhargava, J. The Board is an authority invested by statute with certain sovereign powers of the State. It has the power of promoting coordinated development, generation, supply and distribution of electricity and for that purpose to make, alter, amend and carry out schemes under Ch. V of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, to engage in certain incidental undertakings; to organise and carry out power and hydraulic surveys; to conduct investigation for the improvement of the methods of transmission; to close down generating stations; to compulsorily purchase generating stations, undertakings, mains and transmission lines; to place wires, poles, brackets, appliances, apparatus, etc; to fix grid tariff; to issue directions for securing the maximum economy and efficiency in the operation of electricity undertakings, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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