The court held that the Transmission Company unlawfully altered eligibility criteria for recruitment without the Holding Company's approval, violating established uniformity in pre-requisites.

1. RULE. Rule made returnable forthwith and heard finally with the consent of the parties.

2. The Petitioners before us are 9 candidates who seek employment with Respondent Nos. 4 and 5, as Additional Executive Engineer (Transmission) [AAE, in short]. An Advertisement No. 05/2023, dated 4th October, 2023, was published inviting applications from the candidates for recruitment to the 25% posts by direct appointment and 75% by promotions. The Petitioners are aggrieved by the modifications in the experience qualifications (pre- requisite) and, therefore, the Petitioners have put forth prayer clauses ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ as under :-

B) To quash and set aside the circular bearing no. 465 dated 09.02.2016 issued by Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd., by issuing appropriate writ order direction as the case may be.

C) To quash and set aside the employment advertisement bearing no. 05/2023 issued by Human Resources Department, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd. on dated 04.10.2023, by issuing appropriate writ order direction as the case may be.

D) To direct the respondent No. 5 to correct the advertisement no. 05/2023 published on dated 04/10/2023 and allow all Assistant Engineer to participate in selection on the basis of 7 years experience in Transmission, by issuing appropriate writ order direction as the case may be.

E) To grant interim stay to the employment advertisement bearing no. 05/2023 issued by Human Resources Department, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd., on dated 04.10.2023, pending hearing and final disposal of this Writ Petition.

3. This matter has been heard for almost 4 hours. Considering the entire submissions of the learned Senior Advocate and the Advocates for the respondents, we find that the issue turns upon as to whether the pre-requisites set out in the Advertisement are sustainable considering the legal relationship between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board Holding Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as the “Holding Company”) and the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (hereinafter referred to as the “Transmission Company”).

4. It is undisputed that in 2005, the erstwhile Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) underwent a trifurcation. The Holding Company was the focal point. The Transmission Company, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company ltd. (MSEDCL) and the Maharashtra State Electricity Generation Company (MSEGCL), were the three companies that emerged from the erstwhile Maharashtra State Electricity Board.

5. The Electricity Act , 2003, defines the ‘Board’ under Section 2(7) to mean the State Electricity Board, constituted before the commencement of that Act, under sub-section (1) of section 5 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948. Clause No. (i) of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (Classification and Recruitment) Regulations 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the “1961 Regulations”), defines the ‘Appointing Authority’ to mean the authority to whom powers are delegated by the Board to make appointments on the recommendation of the appropriate Selection Committee and in cases where such powers are not delegated, includes the Board itself. In this context, Clause No. (ii) defines the Board to mean the M S E B. Clause (v) defines the Competent Authority to mean the Board or any other authority to which authority is delegated by the Board for the purposes of any of these Regulations.

6. The MSETCL Employees’ Service Regulations, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the “2012 Service Regulations”) are placed before us. Below Chapter I, Regulation 1(a) indicates that these regulations shall replace the Maharashtra State Electricity Board Employees’ Service Regulations, 1963 by which the employees of the Transmission Company were hitherto governed. Regulation 4 indicates that the Board shall be the authority competent to interpret these Regulations and it’s decisions shall be final. For the purp