Dehradun: The Uttarakhand HC has set aside the appointment of Managing Director of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL), holding that the mandatory educational qualifications under the Selection and Appointment of Managing Directors and Directors in the Three Corporations Rules, 2021, have not been demonstrated to be adhered to, reports Gaurav Talwar.A division bench of Justices Ashish Naithani and Subhash Upadhyay allowed three petitions, including a PIL, challenging the appointment of Prakash Chandra Dayani as MD, and the court delivered its ruling on Wednesday.The dispute centered around Article 9A, which, after the 2021 amendment, requires the possession of an engineering degree to hold the position. Eligibility requirements under the statutory rules cannot be relaxed through executive discretion, and any determination of “equivalence” must be based on substantive material and recorded before appointment, the petitioners said.“Post-graduate degree in engineering is an essential qualification for PhD in PTCUL. The HC has set aside the appointment of Prakash Chandra Dhyani as MD of PTCUL and directed the state government to make an interim arrangement for the post till regular selection is done as per rules,” said Kartiki Hari Gupta, counsel for the petitioner.Diagne was appointed Managing Director in September 2022.
