RAKESH RANJAN VERMA vs THE STATE OF BIHAR .

The Supreme Court held that the Bihar State Electricity Board's power to appoint Junior Electrical Engineers under Section 15 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 cannot be overridden by the State Government's direction under Section 78-A. The Court ruled that the appellants, who had previously accepted appointments as Operators with an undertaking not to claim Junior Engineer posts, could not later assert such claims. The Court upheld the High Court's dismissal of the appellants' petitions, affirming that the Board is not obligated to follow the State's directions that encroach upon its statutory powers.