Allahabad High Court Rules in Favor of LIC Employees for Census 2027 Deployment

Court Dismisses Petition Against LIC Employees' Census Duties

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by the North Central Zone Insurance Employees, upholding the authority's decision to engage employees of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for census work. The court ruled that the authority, or zonal officer, did not commit any error or illegality in issuing orders directing LIC employees to discharge duties as enumerators/supervisors to facilitate the census operations.

The petitioner had sought to quash the decision, arguing that only employees of local authorities can be requisitioned for census duties under Section 4-A of the Census Act, 1948. They claimed that LIC employees do not fall within the definition of "local authorities" as defined under Section 3(31) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, making the entrustment of census duties to them "wholly unsustainable" in the eyes of the law.

However, the Union government's counsel countered that Section 4-A of the Census Act, 1948 cannot be read in isolation and must be construed conjointly with Section 6(1)(e) and 7(c) of the Act, 1948, which specifically contemplate the engagement of employees of factories, firms, and establishments for census work. They argued that LIC comes within the ambit of a 'commercial establishment' and that the engagement of its staff for census operations is within the domain of the Act, 1948.

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The court, in its judgment dated May 29, agreed with the Union government's counsel, stating that the Authorized Authority/Zonal Officer is competent to issue orders commanding LIC employees to act as enumerators/supervisors for census work. The court also noted that Rule 3 of the Census Rules, 1990 prescribes the categories of officers who may be appointed as census officers, conferring wide discretion upon the competent authority to appoint suitable persons as enumerators.