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TMI Blog2006 (9) TMI 557X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the recommendation and rejected the same, apparently due to the precarious condition of the Board which itself was in dire financial straits, and was contemplating retrenchment of its own employees. At all events, any decision by the State Government either to recommend or direct the absorption of the Society's employees was not binding on the Board, as it was a matter where it could independently take a decision. It is also not in dispute that for more than two decades or more, before 1995, the Board had not taken over the employees of any private licencee. There was no occasion for consideration of such a course. Hence, it cannot be said that there was any regularity or predictability or certainty in action which can lead to a legitimate expectation. We may in this behalf refer to the decision of this Court in Bhola Nath Mukherjee v. Government of West Bengal [ 1996 (11) TMI 488 - SUPREME COURT] relating to transfer of a licensee's undertaking to a State Electricity Board, as a consequence of revocation of the licence. In that case the Board initially allowed the employees of the erstwhile licensee to continue in its service but subsequently introduced terms which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as created no longer existed. (ii) The Society was drawing electricity from multiple points in the Board's distribution network, making it difficult to ascertain the actual quantity of electricity drawn by the Society. (iii) The financial position and management of the Society was in a very bad shape and huge arrears were due from the Society to the Board, in spite of Board supplying it to the Society at 7 paise per unit (as against the Board's cost price of 90 to 115 paise per unit). 4. The State Government, after considering the matter, issued a notification dated 25.4.1995, in exercise of its power under sections 4 and 5 of the Act revoking the licence dated 24.8.1976 granted to the Society. The State Government also constituted a Committee to evaluate the assets of the society which had to be transferred to the Board. The Committee was also required to consider whether it would be useful for the Board to absorb some of the employees of the Society. At a Meeting held on 18.9.1995 (as per Minutes drawn up on 10.11.1995), the said Committee made the following suggestions : (a) The Society should be liquidated in view of the cancellation of the licence; (b) Th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the Board. There were some more correspondence relating to the suggestions from various quarters, for absorption of the suitable and fit employees of the Society by the Board. 7. But the Board did not absorb the services of the employees of the Society. Therefore, the employees of the society (appellants) filed CWJC Nos.1503 of 2000 and 14394 of 2001 seeking a direction to the Board to absorb them in equivalent posts with continuity of service and also pay their arrears of salaries, allowances and other dues. They contended that they had a right, both in law and in equity, as also a 'legitimate expectation' to be absorbed into the services of the Board, for the following reasons : a) The Committee constituted by the State Government had recommended that the Board should take work from the employees of the society and ultimately absorb them; b) The employees of the society have a 'legitimate expectation' that they should be absorbed by the Board for the following reasons : (i) Initially several private companies were generating and distributing electricity in the State. When the Board was constituted, the undertakings of all those private compan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ver, admitted that in August, 2001, it had taken a decision that when the prohibition against recruitment in the Board is lifted and appointments are made in future, preference should be given to the eligible employees of the society if necessary by granting relaxation of the age limit. 8. A learned single Judge of the High Court rejected the said contentions and consequently, dismissed the writ petitions by order dated 24.2.2002. He held : (i) The state government had not given any specific direction to the Board to absorb the services of the employees of the society. Any decision taken by the state government that as and when prohibition against recruitment was lifted and appointments were to be made, the Board should give preference to the eligible employees of the society, was not by itself a direction to the Board. At all events, having regard to section 78A of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 the State Government can issue direction only in regard to matters of policy, but could not issue a direction to appoint or absorb any employee of the society in its service as that would amount to encroachment of Board's power under section 15 of the Act -- vide Rakesh Ran ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ific decision by the Board or assurance by the Board to absorb the services of the appellants, the principle of 'legitimate expectation' was not attracted. (v) Having regard to Section 7 and 7A of the Act, when the undertaking of a licensee was purchased by the Board, there was no obligation on the part of the Board to absorb the employees of the erstwhile licensee. 9. The Letters Patent Appeal filed by the appellants against the said decision of the learned single Judge was dismissed by a Division Bench by a brief order dated 30.9.2002, both on the ground of limitation and on merits, thereby affirming the decision of the learned single judge. The said order is challenged in this appeal. On the contentions urged, the following question arises for our consideration :- Whether there is any obligation on the part of the Board - either contractual or statutory, or on equitable considerations-to absorb the services of the appellants? Contractual Obligation : 10. The licence granted to the society under section 3 of the Indian Electricity Act, 1910 was revoked by the State Government on 25.4.1995. It is no doubt true that on such revocation, the Board took ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be true that certain enactments providing for transfer of undertakings in pursuance of nationalization or otherwise, had also provided for continuation/transfer of the services of the employees of the undertakings to the transferee. But these do not attract the principle of 'legitimate expectation'. 14. What is legitimate expectation? Obviously, it is not a legal right. It is an expectation of a benefit, relief or remedy, that may ordinarily flow from a promise or established practice. The term 'established practice' refers to a regular, consistent predictable and certain conduct, process or activity of the decision-making authority. The expectation should be legitimate, that is, reasonable, logical and valid. Any expectation which is based on sporadic or casual or random acts, or which is unreasonable, illogical or invalid cannot be a legitimate expectation. Not being a right, it is not enforceable as such. It is a concept fashioned by courts, for judicial review of administrative action. It is procedural in character based on the requirement of a higher degree of fairness in administrative action, as a consequence of the promise made, or practice established. I ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... bligation cannot amount to a legitimate expectation. The legitimacy of an expectation can be inferred only if it is founded on the sanction of law or custom or an established procedure followed in regular and natural sequence. Again it is distinguishable from a genuine expectation. Such expectation should be justifiably legitimate and protectable. Every such legitimate expectation does not by itself fructify into a right and therefore it does not amount to a right in the conventional sense. [Emphasis supplied] This Court also explained the remedies flowing by applying the principle of legitimate expectation : it is generally agreed that legitimate expectation gives the applicant sufficient locus standi for judicial review and that the doctrine of legitimate expectation is to be confined mostly to right of a fair hearing before a decision which results in negativing a promise or withdrawing an undertaking is taken. The doctrine does not give scope to claim relief straightaway from the administrative authorities as no crystallized right as such is involved. The protection of such legitimate expectation does not require the fulfillment of the expectation where an ove ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt aspect is whether the decision maker can sustain the change in policy by resort to Wednesbury principles of rationality or whether the court can go into the question whether the decision-maker has properly balanced the legitimate expectation as against the need for a change.. In sum, this means that the judgment whether public interest overrides the substantive legitimate expectation of individuals will be for the decision-maker who has made the change in the policy. The choice of the policy is for the decision-maker and not for the court. The legitimate substantive expectation merely permits the court to find out if the change in policy which is the cause for defeating the legitimate expectation is irrational or perverse or one which no reasonable person could have made. 17. Recently, a Constitution Bench of this Court in Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Umadevi [2006 (4) SCC 1] referred to the circumstances in which the doctrine of legitimate expectation can be invoked thus : The doctrine can be invoked if the decisions of the administrative authority affect the person by depriving him of some benefit or advantage which either (i) he had in the past been permitted by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aking is taken over, transferred or purchased, the transferee or purchaser should continue the services of the employees of the erstwhile owner of the undertaking, is not sound. In fact, statutory provisions seem to indicate otherwise. Section 25-FF of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 provides that where the ownership or management of an undertaking is transferred, whether by agreement or by operation of law, from the employer in relation to that undertaking to a new employer, every workman who has been in continuous service for not less than one year in that undertaking immediately before such transfer shall be entitled to notice and compensation in accordance with the provisions of Section 25-F, as if the workman had been retrenched, except in the cases mentioned in the proviso thereto. Therefore, the natural consequence of a transfer of an undertaking, unless there is a specific provision for continuation of the service of the workmen, is termination of employment of its employees, and the employer's liability to pay compensation in accordance with Section 25F. In Anakapalle Co-operative Agricultural and Industrial Society Ltd. v. Workmen [AIR 1963 SC 1489], a Constitution ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ctability or certainty in action which can lead to a legitimate expectation. 20. The appellant next submitted that this Court, in some cases, has directed absorption in similar circumstances. Reliance is placed on the decision in G. Govinda Rajulu v. Andhra Pradesh State Construction Corporation Ltd. -- 1986 (Supp) SCC 651. We extract below the entire judgment : We have carefully considered the matter and after hearing learned counsel for the parties, we direct that the employees of the Andhra Pradesh State Construction Corporation Limited whose services were sought to be terminated on account of the closure of the Corporation shall be continued in service on the same terms and conditions either in the government departments or in the government corporations. The writ petition is disposed of accordingly. There is no order as to costs. The tenor of the said order, which is not preceded by any reasons or consideration of any principle, demonstrates that it was an order made under Article 142 of the Constitution on the peculiar facts of that case. Law declared by this Court is binding under Article 141. Any direction given on special facts, in exercise of jurisdiction und ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nts the benefit of their past services with the government when thus absorbed by the Corporation. Such a step would have preserved to the appellants their rightful dues and retirement benefits. The conduct of the government in depriving the appellants of substantial benefits which have accrued to them as a result of their long service with the government, although the tubewells continue to be run at its cost by a Corporation wholly owned by it, is something which is grossly unfair and inequitable. This type of attitude designed to achieve nothing more than to deprive the employees of some benefits which they had earned, can be understood in the case of a private employer but comes ill from a State Government and smacks of arbitrariness. Acting as a model employer, which the State ought to be, and having regard to the long length of service of most of the appellants, the State, in our opinion, should have agreed to bear the burden of giving the appellants credit for their past service with the government. That would not have affected the Corporation or its employees in any way except to a limited extent indicated below and, at the same time, it would have done justice to the appella ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ices of the employees of the previous employer was not in issue and therefore, the said decision is of no assistance. On the other hand, what may be relevant are the following observations of the Constitution Bench in Uma Devi (supra) : Obviously, the State is also controlled by economic considerations and financial implications of any public employment. The viability of the department or the instrumentality of the project is also of equal concern for the State. The State works out the scheme taking into consideration the financial implications and the economic aspects. Can the court impose on the State a financial burden of this nature by insisting on regularization or permanence in employment, when those employed temporarily are not needed permanently or regularly ? As an example, we can envisage a direction to give permanent employment to all those who are being temporarily or casually employed in a public sector undertaking. The burden may become so heavy by such a direction that the undertaking itself may collapse under its own weight. It is not as if this had not happened. So, the court ought not to impose a financial burden on the State by such directions, as such dire ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid observations made in an interim order with reference to the State's obligations will not be of any avail to seek employment under the Board. We are not concerned in these appeals about the rights of the employees of the Society vis-a-vis the Society or the State Government. We are concerned with a specific question as to whether they can seek absorption under the Board. We may in this behalf refer to the decision of this Court in Bhola Nath Mukherjee v. Government of West Bengal [1997 (1) SCC 562] relating to transfer of a licensee's undertaking to a State Electricity Board, as a consequence of revocation of the licence. In that case the Board initially allowed the employees of the erstwhile licensee to continue in its service but subsequently introduced terms which rendered them fresh appointees from the date of take over of the undertaking. The question that arose for consideration was whether the employees were entitled to compensation under Section 25FF of the Act; and whether the liability for payment of such compensation under Section 25FF of the Act was on the transferor or the Board. This Court held that employees had no right to claim any retrenchment compensat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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