High Court Questions Suspension of Engineer Over Power Outage in Uttar Pradesh

Court Reviews Suspension of Engineer Following Power Failure

The Allahabad High Court has addressed the case of a suspended assistant engineer in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, who was penalized after a power outage during an event attended by the Energy Minister. The court remarked that the suspension order seemed to be a means of covering up issues without establishing any accountability.

Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery, while disposing of the writ petition filed by the engineer Lalit Kumar, urged the Uttar Pradesh Power Department to reconsider the suspension order. This comment was made based on statements from the department's legal representative.

The lawyer for the department indicated that the Managing Director of the Western Electricity Distribution Corporation would review the situation. It is important to note that on July 20, during the Energy Minister's event in Moradabad, there was a power cut lasting 10 minutes, which was restored shortly after. Following this incident, Lalit Kumar was suspended on charges of negligence.

The engineer challenged the suspension in the High Court, with his attorney arguing that the order was merely a tactic to conceal the department's shortcomings, lacking any mention of accountability for the engineer.

In response, the department's lawyer stated that they had received confirmation that the relevant officials would reassess the matter, and there is a strong possibility that the suspension order may be reconsidered.

Recording the assurances provided by the electricity department, the court stated in its order on August 25 that if the government fails to uphold its commitments, the petitioner would be free to approach the court again.