Twice married? You are likely to be locked out of electricity tribunal

NEW DELHI: If you have married for the second time or are wedded to a person who has married twice, you cannot work for the electricity tribunal. This is the only disqualification condition mentioned in the service rules that bars you from serving in the tribunal.

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) proposes to notify the salary, allowances and other conditions of services of the officers and employees rules, 2018, which will apply to 15 positions from registrar to lower division clerk, between ranks equivalent to group A, B and C posts in the central government.

The only disqualification mentioned in the proposed notification read, “No person who has entered into or contracted a marriage with a person having a spouse living or who having a spouse living, has entered into or contracted a marriage with any person, shall be eligible for appointment to the said post.”

The draft does not mention any other disqualifying criteria such as conviction or past criminal records which are generally mentioned in service conduct rules of organisations. The draft notification was placed on the power ministry’s website on Monday, but was removed within hours after ET began making enquiries.

The proposed notification also said the Centre may, if satisfied that such marriage is permissible and there are other grounds for doing so, exempt any person from this rule. The draft rules do not provide for disqualification due to criminal record or conviction.

This kind of moral policing is not new to the organisation. The past notifications on employee rules notified in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011and 2017 have the disqualification norms. The draft rules circulated for comments on Monday were no different.

Electricity regulator Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has in place salary and compensation rules for its chairperson and members, but they do not talk about personal conduct. Similarly, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has separate compensation rules for chairperson and members and secretary.

The rules guide about pay scale, travel allowance and rules. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Salary, Allowances and other conditions of Service of the officers and employees) Rules do not have any such condition.

As per the draft, the power ministry invited comments from the stakeholders by January 8, 2019, but the draft was removed late on Monday from the website. [ET Energy World]