HC: No illegality in directing LIC employees to join census duty

Prayagraj: Upholding the directions issued by the competent authorities assigning census duties to employees of the Life Insurance Corporation, the Allahabad high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by the North Central Zone Insurance Employees Association, stating that the authorised authority and zonal officers had committed no error or illegality in directing LIC employees to serve as enumerators and supervisors for the census drive.Delivering the verdict on May 29, Justice Dinesh Pathak said, “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.”“The ancillary prayer seeking issuance of a writ of mandamus restraining the respondents from engaging employees of the LIC in census operations also cannot be granted in light of the statutory provisions. Resultantly, the instant writ petition, being misconceived and devoid of merits, is dismissed with no order as to costs,” Justice Pathak added.During the course of the 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 duties as enumerators/supervisors. He further submitted that the employees of the 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 upon them is wholly unsustainable in the eyes of the law.On the other hand, the counsel for the Govt of India contended that section 4-A of the Census Act, 1948, cannot be read in isolation and has to be constructed conjointly with section 6 (1)(e) and 7(c) of the Act, 1948, which specifically contemplate the engagement of employees of factories, firms and establishments for the census work. He emphasized that the LIC comeswithin the ambit of a ‘commercial establishment’ and, therefore, engagement of its staff for census operations is within the domain of the Act, 1948.In its judgment, the court said, “The persons engaged in census duties are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code, and any slackness or neglect on their part is punishable under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, read with the Indian Penal Code”.