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Govt can't recover AC bill without due process: HC

Govt can't recover AC bill without due process: HC

Time of Indiaa day ago
Ahmedabad: Gujarat high court has scrapped a govt order to recover from a retired lecturer the power bill for the use of an air conditioner for a decade in her chamber in a govt polytechnic in Ahmedabad.
While quashing the recovery order, the HC slammed the authorities for their attempt to recover money from the lecturer for the installation of the AC without any evidence of its usage and without following any procedure.
In this case, in 2017, the commissioner of technical education sought recovery from 11 faculty members of the govt polytechnic for using air conditioners in their chambers without authorisation.
The lady lecturer was one of them and was asked to pay Rs 53,562 towards the power bill for AC usage from 2002 to 2012. The amount was later revised to Rs 1.77 lakh.
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While 10 faculty members paid the amounts, the lady lecturer approached the HC challenging the recovery. She argued that she was never informed that she was not entitled to use the AC based on her pay scale. She submitted that the air conditioner was already installed in her chamber when she occupied it and that no evidence was presented to prove she installed or misused it.
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She also contended that she was never asked anything before the authority issued the recovery order, and that too five years later in 2017.
After hearing the case, Justice Nikhil Kariel stated that in passing the recovery order to the employees, the authority "was required to follow a reasonable process in accordance with the extant policies of the State Government." The authority did not follow any prescribed procedure, nor was the employee provided with an opportunity to explain.
The court stated, "The respondents are not able to point out that during her service tenure between the year 2002 to 2012, the petitioner was intimated not to use the air conditioner as she was not entitled." The court also said that there was no evidence with the authority to show that the faculty member actually utilised or misused the AC.
As Shah retired on July 30, the HC restrained authorities from taking any other step in this regard.
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