The Supreme Court has upheld the introduction of the Biometric Attendance System (BAS) in government offices, ruling that the lack of prior consultation with employees does not render the system illegal. The court said the system was introduced “for the benefit of all stakeholders” and that objections on procedural grounds were unfounded.
A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Prasanna B Varale allowed a 2015 appeal filed by the Union government challenging an Orissa High Court judgment that had struck down circulars introducing BAS in the Office of the Principal Accountant General (A&E), Odisha. The High Court had held that the system was introduced without consulting employees and was not in conformity with the administrative manual for central government offices.
Setting aside that decision, the Supreme Court in its October 29 order said:
“When the introduction of the Biometric Attendance System is for the benefit of all the stakeholders, merely for the reason that the employees were not consulted before implementing the same does not render the introduction of the system to be illegal.”
The BAS was introduced in the Odisha Accountant General’s office on July 1, 2013, through circulars issued between July and November that year. The employees had initially challenged the move before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which dismissed the plea as not maintainable. They later approached the Orissa High Court, which ruled in their favour in 2014. The Centre then moved the Supreme Court in 2015.
When the matter came up for hearing after nearly a decade, the Centre argued that there was no rule in the establishment manual requiring employee consultation before implementing BAS. The government’s counsel said the system ensured transparency and accountability and was “for the overall benefit of the employees as well as the department.”
Interestingly, during the hearing, both sides informed the bench that the employees were no longer opposed to the use of BAS. Taking note of this, the court observed that there was “no controversy in this regard” anymore.
“Once the employees have no reservation on the introduction of the Biometric Attendance System, we are of the opinion that no controversy in this regard survives and the department can very well go ahead with the implementation of the above system,” the bench said.
The court added that the High Court’s exercise in examining the validity of the circulars “appears to be totally unnecessary.”
The Supreme Court set aside the Orissa High Court’s August 21, 2014 order and permitted the Principal Accountant General’s office to proceed with implementing the BAS in accordance with the circulars issued earlier.
