Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday, May 25, dismissed petitions filed by candidates seeking directions to fill 42 unfilled Assistant Electrical Engineer (AEE) posts notified by TGGENCO in 2015.
A bench comprising Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice SVN Bhatti passed the order while hearing appeals filed by the candidates challenging a Telangana High Court division bench verdict that had gone in favour of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation (TGGENCO).
TGGENCO had issued a notification on September 23, 2015, for recruitment to 856 Assistant Engineer posts in various power utilities across the state and conducted the examination on November 14 that year. Appointment letters were issued to 690 candidates on February 17, 2016, while additional candidates were selected later based on merit.
In the second phase of recruitment in 2017, 73 more candidates were appointed. However, 42 Assistant Electrical Engineer posts mentioned in the original notification remained vacant.
Candidates approached TGGENCO seeking to fill the remaining posts, but the corporation informed them that due to delays in the execution of certain power projects, there was no immediate requirement for additional staff.
Candidates approach HC
The affected candidates moved the Telangana High Court in 2018. In October 2024, a single-judge bench directed TGGENCO to fill the remaining posts. Challenging the order, TGGENCO approached a division bench, which later ruled in favour of the power utility.
The candidates subsequently approached the Supreme Court on May 12 this year.
Senior advocate Niranjan Reddy, appearing for the petitioners, argued that TGGENCO had earlier claimed the 42 AEE posts were unnecessary after reassessing staffing needs, but later issued a fresh recruitment notification for similar posts in 2023.
However, Justice SVN Bhatti observed that at the time the 2015 notification was issued, some generation projects under TGGENCO might have been delayed or may not have materialised as expected, reducing the need for recruitment at that stage.
Bench dismisses petitions
The bench dismissed the petitions after hearing both sides.
Senior advocates L Narasimha Reddy and Shravan Kumar appeared for TGGENCO.
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