2026:CGHC:7211 Digitally signed by SHAYNA AFR KADRI HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 9110 of 2023

1 - Mukesh Kumar Choudhary S/o Ramanand Choudhary Aged About 46 Years Worked As Asst. Engineer (Civil) In The Office Of Utility Powertech Limited, Korba Site, Korba, C.G R/o H.N.- B- 1337, Krishna Vihar, Korba,, District : Korba, Chhattisgarh

2 - Ramesh Kumar S/o Sakal Deep Upadhyay Aged About 51 Years Worked As Junior Engineer (Grade- I) In The Office Of Utility Powertech Limited, Korba Site, Korba, Cg R/o A-2/162, Po- Dhurwa, Distt- Ranchi, Jharkhand, District : Ranchi, Jharkhand ... Petitioner(s)

versus

1 - National Thermal Power Corporation (Ntpc) Limited Represented By Its General Manager (Hr), Having Its General Manager (Hr),having Its Office At Core- 7 Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi- 110003, District : New Delhi, Delhi

2 - Utility Powertech Limited A Joint Venture Division Of Ntpc Ltd. And Reliance Infrastructure Limited, Upl House W- 24, Sector- Ii, Noida- 201301, Uttar Pradesh, India, Represented By Its General Manager (Hr), District : Noida, Uttar Pradesh

3 - The Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) D/6, Adarsh Society, Sector- 1, Avanti Vihar,, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh

4 - The Assistant Labour Commissioner Korba, District : Korba, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

(Cause-title is taken from Case Information System)

For Petitioner : Mr. Syed Afaque Hussain Rizvi, Advocate holding brief on behalf of Mr. Lakhan Singh Bhadoriya, Advocate For State : Mr. Sangharsh Pandey, Government Advocate For Resp. No. 1 : Mr. Anuroop Panda, Advocate For Resp. No. 2 : Mr. Parth Shrivastava, Advocate SB- Hon'ble Shri Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad

Order on Board

09/02/2026

1. The present writ petition is being filed seeking following reliefs:-

“10.1 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to admit the Writ Petition; issue Rule NISI calling upon the Respondent/ Authorities to show cause as to why the prayers of the Petitioners shall not be allowed and if the Respondents fail to show cause, or show insufficient cause thereof, the said Rule be made absolute in the interest of justice. That, the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to quash the impugned orders of termination /removal from service as vide Annexure-3 (Colly.) by issuing a Writ in the nature of Certiorari.

10.2 That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to command the Respondents/Authorities to reinstatement the Petitioners against their posts which are perennial in nature and they may further be directed to allow these Petitioners to continue further as before till the Company survives or in the alternative, without leave of this Hon'ble Court and also be granted with all consequential service benefits. etc., in the interest of justice.

10.3 Any other relief which this Hon'ble Court may deem and proper in the present circumstances of the case”

2. The facts of the case, in brief, are that the petitioners were duly selected in the year 2008 by a duly constituted Selection Committee of the Management of Utility Powertech Limited (UPL), a Joint Venture Company of NTPC Limited and Reliance Infrastructure Limited having equal shareholding, and were issued letters of appointment against substantive posts, whereafter they have continuously rendered satisfactory services without any adverse remark in their service records; Petitioner No.1 was initially appointed as Supervisor (Civil) on 28.04.2008 and is presently working as Assistant Engineer (Civil), while petitioner No.2 was appointed as Junior Engineer on 02.02.2008 and is presently working as Junior Engineer (Grade-I), and their recent engagements were for the periods 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2024 and 01.07.2023 to 31.12.2023 respectively at the UPL project site, Korba. The petitioners were given to understand that UPL, being a sister concern of NTPC Limited and managed substantially by NTPC personnel, would continue to retain employees recruited on merit and qualifi