MSEDCL jobs: HC to decide on new merit list to include Marathas

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court (HC) on Friday directed the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to file an application before the HC chief justice to club the various petitions filed at the Nagpur and Aurangabad benches and get them transferred to the principal seat at Mumbai. The petitions were filed after MSEDCL refused to appoint Maratha community members in the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category for vacant posts. The petitioners sought directions to MSEDCL to revise the existing merit list as the petitioners’ names would also have to be featured in it.

On January 29, a division bench of justice KK Tated and justice NR Borkar, while hearing a bunch of petitions filed by various members of the Maratha community, was informed by their lawyers that their clients were aspiring to get jobs in MSEDCL pursuant to its advertisement for the Kendra Sahayak posts which was issued in July 2019. The advocates informed that after HC had upheld Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) reservation, the petitioners had applied for the said quota in the job. However, after the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of SEBC reservation in October, their applications were considered to be from the open category.

In an earlier hearing, advocate Satish Talekar, counsel for a petitioner, said that though the aspirants could not benefit from SEBC reservation, members from the community from financially weaker backgrounds could apply under EWS quota. However, the authorities refused to grant them EWS certificates and hence, MSEDCL did not consider their applications. HC then asked the officials concerned for the reason behind denying the EWS certificates. Meanwhile, other applicants under EWS category opposed the petitions stating that if Marathas are included in the list, it will prejudice their chances of getting appointed. MSEDCL then informed HC that there are similar petitions before the Nagpur and Aurangabad benches too. HC then directed MSEDCL to seek clubbing of all petitions and posted the hearing for the first week of February.