Allahabad HC Upholds Direction Entrusting Census Duties To LIC Employees

Prayagraj: Upholding the directions issued by the authorities concerned for entrusting census duties to the employees of LIC, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by North Central Zone Insurance Employees, saying that the authority/zonal officer did not commit any error or illegality.

The petitioner had sought quashing of the decision to engage employees of LIC for census work. Dismissing the writ petition, Justice Dinesh Pathak said, “This court is of the considered opinion that the authorised authority/zonal officer has not committed any error or illegality in issuing orders in exercise of delegated power directing the employees of the LIC to discharge duties as enumerators/supervisors to facilitate the work of census operations.

“Further, the writ petition contains only a vague prayer seeking quashing of the decision to engage employees of the LIC for census work and no specific challenge has been made to any particular order.”

During the course of hearing, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that under section 4-A of the Census Act, 1948, only employees of local authorities can be requisitioned for performing census duties as enumerators/supervisors.

He further submitted that the employees of LIC do not fall within the definition of “local authorities” as defined under section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act, 1897. Therefore, entrustment of census duties to them is “wholly unsustainable” in the eyes of law.

On the other hand, the counsel for the Union government contended that section 4-A of the census Act, 1948 cannot be read in isolation and has to be construed conjointly with section 6 (1)(e) and 7(c) of the Act, 1948, which specifically contemplate engagement of employees of factories, firms and establishments for census work.

He emphasised that LIC comes within the ambit of a ‘commercial establishment’ and, therefore, engagement of its staff for census operations is within the domain of the Act, 1948.

It was further contended that rule 3 of the Census Rules, 1990, prescribes the categories of officers who may be appointed as census officers. Thus, according to the Union government’s counsel, the rule confers wide discretion upon the competent authority to appoint suitable persons as enumerators.

In its judgment dated May 29, the court said, “In the backdrop of the legal proposition, the Authorized Authority/Zonal Officer is competent to issued orders commanding the persons employed with the LIC to act as numerators/Supervisors for census work.”