Delhi HIGHCOURT upholds appointment of Director General of Civil Aviation

 (UNI) The Delhi High Court has upheld the appointment of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Naseem Zaidi stating the government was empowered to relax recruitment rules but they cannot be claimed as a matter of right.

A bench comprising Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Siddharth Mridul allowed the Centre’s appeal against a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order, which had held that the power of relaxation of the recruitment rules vested with the government or appropriate authority was discretionary and no government servant can claim it as a matter of right.

The CAT, after consultations with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), had quashed a Civil Aviation Ministry circular, which had paved the way for appointment of Zaidi as DGCA in September 2008 by relaxing the requisite experience in Aviation Sector from 12 to five years.

The CAT’s order came on a petition filed by the then Joint DGCA A K Chopra, seeking promotion to the post of DGCA on the basis of his seniority.

The government pointed out that it had relaxed the experience norms in exceptional circumstances as no person with requisite experience was available.

The government told the court that as there was no suitable candidate for the post, the ministry had earlier even re-employed former DGCA K Gohain for an additional year beyond his tenure ending on June 6, 2007.

The Tribunal had scrapped the circular in August 2008 on Chopra’s petition, seeking direction from the ministry to consider his representation for promotion to the post of DGCA as he was the senior-most official for promotion to this post.

The government, however, did not agree to his contention stating that he did not possess the capability to head DGCA and handle various complex issues pertaining to the official work of the requisite post. UNI

Source; IndlawNews