Engineering degrees not required for holding top posts in Uttarakhand power corporations, Nainital High Court issue contempt notice

Engineering degrees not required for holding top posts in Uttarakhand power corporations, Nainital High Court issue contempt notice

S.M.A. KAZMI

Dehradun, Feb 28

Uttarakhand which is now days known as the latest laboratory of ‘Sangh Parivar’ on the lines of ‘Gujarat model’ in orchestrating Hindu-Muslim divisions, has earned the dubious distinction of setting a unique precedent of doing away with required technical qualifications for the top posts of its’ three power corporations.

A decision in this regard was taken by the Uttarakhand cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on February 24, in a bid to save the chair of Managing Director of Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (PITCUL) whose appointment was set aside by a double bench of Justice Asish Naithani and Subhash Upadhaya of the Nainital High Court in an order on February 18, 2026 on the grounds of not having the required technical degree for holding that particular post. The court set aside the appointment which at the first place was done temporarily three years ago, on writs filed by Praveen Tandon, Anil Chandra Baluni and Rajiv Gupta challenging the same.

Most interestingly, despite court orders, the state government continued to allow Prakash Chander Dhayani, the MD of PITCUL to work and then brought about a cabinet resolution changing the qualifications for the post.

But this was not taken kindly by the Nainital High Court. Justice Alok Verma taking up a petition of contempt against court orders of February 18, issued notices to Meenakshi Sundram, Uttarakhand Power Secretary to appear online personally before the court on March 19, 2026.

Following the contempt notice by High Court to Power Secretary, late night on Friday, the state government ordered the removal of Prakash Chander Dhayani taking away the additional charge of Managing Director PITCUL which he was holding since 2022. Meharban Singh Bisht, Additional Secretary Power has been given the charge as per orders of the Power Secretary Meenakshi Sundram.

It was an attempt to post their own favourites without necessary technical qualifications, the Uttarakhand cabinet passed a resolution making the posts of Managing Directors of three power corporations namely Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (PITCUL), Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), which required engineering qualifications being highly technical work has been turned into non-technical ones. Meaning thereby that anyone ‘favourites’ of the political and bureaucratic bosses could be appointed on these positions.

On the other hand, the decision of the state government to lower the qualifications for the top posts has resulted into turmoil amongst the engineering community serving the state. The engineers serving in the three power corporations of the state have warned of a mass-scale resignation over the state government’s attempt to eliminate the criteria of engineering background for appointment as Managing Directors of these corporations.

The Uttarakhand Power Engineers Association (UPEA) has warned the state government of a mass resignation and a tool-down strike against the conversion of positions like MD, which require an engineering background, into non-technical ones and the extension of service to retired officers.

The issue has also snow balled into a political controversy with Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Yashpal Arya charging the state BJP government of elevating a class three employee as Managing Director of PITCUL and sought a judicial probe into the entire affair. “ It is known fact that why such officers who are not qualified enough to hold such senior technical posts are appointed by the political bosses and bureaucrats,” Yashpal Arya in a statement alleged.

Rahul Chandana, General Secretary of Uttarakhand Power Engineers Association (UPEA) said that a meeting of the executive committee of the association held on February 25, 2026, unanimously condemned the extensions granted to retired officers in energy corporations and opposed the state government move to eliminate the requirement of an engineering background for the top positions in these corporations