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Tuesday, July 12, 2011
in the Civil Services Examination, 2004 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission, Avinash Mohanty and Vikrama Varma amongst others were selected for appointment to the Indian Police Service (for short `the IPS') and were offered appointments to the IPS in 2005. By notification dated 19.01.2006 of the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, the candidates who had been selected and appointed to the IPS on the basis of the results of the Civil Services Examination, 2004 were allocated to different State cadres. By this notification, Avinash Mohanty, who had secured the 45th rank in the Civil Services Examination, 2004 was allocated to the Chhattisgarh cadre, whereas Vikrama Varma, who had secured 201st rank in the Civil Services Examination, 2004 was allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. Avinash Mohanty made representations to the authorities against his allotment to the Chhattisgarh cadre and claimed that he should have been allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2550 OF 2010
C.M. Thri Vikrama Varma ... Appellant
Versus
Avinash Mohanty & Ors. ... Respondents
WITH
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 2551 OF 2010
Union of India & Ors. ... Appellants
Versus
Avinash Mohanty & Anr. ... Respondents
J U D G M E N T
A. K. PATNAIK, J.
These two appeals by way of special leave under Article
136 of the Constitution are against the impugned judgment
of the Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court
dated 22.03.2007 in Writ Petition No. 458 of 2007.
2
2. The facts very briefly are that in the Civil Services
Examination, 2004 conducted by the Union Public Service
Commission, Avinash Mohanty and Vikrama Varma
amongst others were selected for appointment to the Indian
Police Service (for short `the IPS') and were offered
appointments to the IPS in 2005. By notification dated
19.01.2006 of the Government of India, Ministry of Home
Affairs, the candidates who had been selected and
appointed to the IPS on the basis of the results of the Civil
Services Examination, 2004 were allocated to different State
cadres. By this notification, Avinash Mohanty, who had
secured the 45th rank in the Civil Services Examination,
2004 was allocated to the Chhattisgarh cadre, whereas
Vikrama Varma, who had secured 201st rank in the Civil
Services Examination, 2004 was allocated to the Andhra
Pradesh cadre. Avinash Mohanty made representations to
the authorities against his allotment to the Chhattisgarh
cadre and claimed that he should have been allocated to the
Andhra Pradesh cadre. When his representations did not
yield any results, Avinash Mohanty filed O.A. No. 286 of
2006 before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad
3
Bench (for short `the Tribunal') on 03.05.2006 contending
that the guidelines and norms in the letter dated
31.05.1985 of the Secretary, Government of India, Ministry
of Personnel and Training (for short `the letter dated
31.05.1985') have not been followed while making the
allocations and the allocation of Vikrama Varma to the
Andhra Pradesh cadre was arbitrary and in his place he
should have been allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre.
After considering the pleadings of the parties and hearing
learned counsel for the parties, the Tribunal by its order
dated 24.11.2006 dismissed the O.A. Aggrieved, Avinash
Mohanty filed Writ Petition No. 458 of 2007 under Article
226 of the Constitution before the Andhra Pradesh High
Court and by the impugned judgment, the High Court
allowed the Writ Petition, quashed the allocation of the
Vikrama Varma to the Andhra Pradesh cadre and directed
the Union of India to reconsider the allocation of Avinash
Mohanty and Vikrama Varma in accordance with law.
3. Mr. M.S. Ganesh, learned counsel for Vikrama Varma,
the appellant in C.A. No. 2550 of 2010, submitted that this
Court in Union of India vs. Rajiv Yadav, IAS and Others
4
[(1994) 6 SCC 38] while considering the allocation of officers
appointed to the Indian Administrative Services (for short
`the IAS') has held that under Rule 5 of the Indian
Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, the Central
Government is under no obligation to have options or
preferences from the officers concerned and this Rule made
the Central Government the sole authority to allocate the
members of the service to various cadres and therefore a
person appointed to an All India Service, having various
State cadres, has no right to claim allocation to a State of
his choice or to his home State. He submitted that this
position of law has been reiterated by this Court in Union of
India vs. Mh
athung Kithan and Others,
etc. [(1996) 10 SCC
562]. He also relied upon the judgment of the Division
Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in G. Srinivas Rao
vs. Union of India & Ors. (2005 (2) ALT 728 (D.B.) which,
while referring to the law laid down in Rajiv Yadav's case
(supra), has further observed that the Union of India was
required to operationalise a plurality of Government choices
in the matter of allocation of officers to different State
cadres and in the very nature of things, it is not always
5
possible to fulfill all the policy objectives of Union of India in
every factual circumstance and in every recruitment year.
He also referred to the observations made in the Division
Bench judgment of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the
case of G. Srinivas Rao (supra) that considering the
complexities of accommodating the multitude of federal
policy choices, allocation is a daunting task and there are
no ready solutions which can perfectly be tailored to fit such
complex problems. Considering all these multiple factors
which have to be kept in mind while making the allocations
of members of the IPS to different cadres, the High Court in
the present case should not have quashed the allocation of
Vikrama Varma to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. He
submitted that the main reason given by the High Court in
the impugned judgment is that in the current roster (3rd
Cycle) already nine OBC candidates had been allocated to
the Andhra Pradesh cadre before the allocation of Vikrama
Varma, who was an OBC candidate, and allocation of
Vikrama Varma to the Andhra Pradesh cadre would make a
total of ten OBC candidates in the 30 point roster which
was 6% excess over the 27% reservation in favour of OBC
6
candidates. He submitted that this Court has held in the
case of Rajiv Yadav (supra) that allocation is not to be tested
by the reservation provision under Article 16(4) of the
Constituion and therefore 27% reservation in favour of OBC
candidates was not relevant in the matter of allocation and
the reasoning given by the High Court in the impugned
judgment is erroneous.
4. Mr. Mohan Parasaran, learned Additional Solicitor
General appearing for the Union of India, the appellant in
C.A. No. 2551 of 2010, submitted that the direct
recruitment in the IPS is done on an All India basis under
the Indian Police Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 (for
short `the Recruitment Rules') and hence reservation in
such direct recruitment is also on All India basis. He
submitted that after direct recruitment is over and the
selected general and reserved candidates are appointed to
the IPS under Rule 5 of the Indian Police Service (Cadre)
Rules, 1954, the Central Government makes allocation of
cadres to the members of the IPS and Rule 5 does not
provide for reservation. He submitted that this Court has,
therefore, held in the case of Rajiv Yadav while interpreting
7
Rule 5 of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954,
which is similarly worded, that the principles of allocation
contained in the letter dated 31.05.1985 do not provide for
reservation on appointments or posts and the question of
testing the principles of allocation on the anvil of Article 16
(4) of the Constitution does not arise. Relying on Para 32 of
the counter affidavit filed by the Union of India before the
Tribunal in O.A. No. 286 of 2006, he submitted that at the
time of allocation of cadres to the candidates for
appointment to IPS on the basis of the Civil Services
Examination 2004, a total of 8 candidates were allocated to
the Andhra Pradesh cadre from the last five Civil Services
Examinations (1999-2003), out of which 2 (27%) were OBC
and hence there was neither any excess nor any shortfall in
respect of allocation of OBC candidates in the IPS cadre of
Andhra Pradesh. He submitted that from Civil Services
Examination 2004 a total number of 2 candidates were to
be allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre and as per
prescribed percentage, one vacancy each had to be filled up
from General category and OBC category and as per 30
point roster prepared as per the letter dated 31.05.1985, the
8
OBC vacancy was meant for an insider OBC candidate and
thus the same has been filled up by allocating Vikrama
Varma, an OBC candidate. He submitted that the High
Court in the impugned judgment has not correctly
appreciated the roster maintained by the Government and
has instead observed that there was clear arbitrariness in
the operation of the roster system. Mr. Parasaran finally
submitted that the directions of the High Court in the
impugned judgment for reconsideration of cadre allocation if
followed will have a cascading effect on the service.
5. Mr. Sunil Kumar, appearing for Avinash Mohanty, the
respondent no.1 in the two appeals, on the other hand,
submitted that in Rajiv Yadav's case (supra) this Court has
held that the roster system in the letter dated 31.05.1985
ensures equitable treatment to both the general candidates
and the reserved candidates. He submitted that the table
indicating the correct position of vacancies filled from Civil
Services Examination 1994 to 2003 furnished in Para 28 of
the counter affidavit dated 22.03.2007 of the Union of India
filed in the High Court has been extracted in the impugned
judgment of the High Court, which will go to show that four
9
vacancies had been assigned to insider OBCs and five
vacancies had been assigned to outsider OBCs and thus
nine OBC candidates had already been allocated in a total
of 29 vacancies in the Andhra Pradesh cadre and there was
already an excess over 27% reserved in favour of the OBC
candidates. He submitted that for this reason the High
Court took the view that the 10th vacancy in the Andhra
Pradesh cadre in the 30 point roster, if allocated to an OBC
candidate would be clearly a violation of the equitable
principle of allocation contained in the letter dated
31.05.1985 and would be arbitrary. He submitted that the
directions of the High Court for reconsideration of cadre
allocation of Avinash Mohanty and Vikrama Varma are
justified in the facts of the case and the directions are to be
followed in their cases only and will not have any cascading
effect on the service.
6. Rules 3 and 5 of the IPS (Cadre) Rules, 1954, are
quoted herein below:
"3. Constitution of Cadres- 3(1) There shall
be constituted for each State or group of States
an Indian Police Service Cadre.
10
3(2) The Cadres so constituted for a State or a
group of States are hereinafter referred to as a
`State Cadre' and a `Joint Cadre' respectively.
5. Allocation of members to various cadres-
5(1) The allocation of cadre officers to the
various cadres shall be made by the Central
Government in consultation with the State
Government or State Governments concerned.
5(2) The Central Government may, with the
concurrence of the State Governments
concerned, transfer a cadre officer from one
cadre to another cadre."
It will be clear from Rule 3 that each State and a group of
States will have a State cadre or Joint Cadre respectively of
the IPS and it will be further clear from Rule 5 that the
Central Government in consultation with the State
Government or State Governments concerned has the power
to make allocation of IPS officers to various cadres.
7. The broad principles, which are to be followed for
allocation, have been indicated in Para 3 of the letter dated
31.05.1985 and are extracted herein below:
"(1) The vacancies in every cadre will be
earmarked for 'outsiders' and 'insiders' in the
ratio of 2:1. In order to avoid problems relating
to fractions and to ensure that this ratio is
maintained, over a period of time, if not during
every allocation, the break-up of vacancies in a
cadre between 'outsiders' and 'insiders' will be
11
calculated following the cycle of 'outsider',
'insider', 'outsider'
(2) The vacancies for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes will be reserved in the various
cadres according to the prescribed percentage.
For purpose of this reservation, Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes will be grouped together
and the percentage will be added. Distribution of
reserved vacancies in each cadre between
'outsiders' and 'insiders' will be done in the ratio
2:1. This ratio will be operationalised by following
a cycle 'outsider, 'insider', 'outsider' as is done in
the case of general candidates.
(3) Allocation of 'insiders', both men and women,
will be strictly according to their ranks, subject to
their willingness to be allocated to their home
States
(4) Allocation of 'outsiders', whether they are
general candidates or reserved candidates,
whether they are men or women, will be
according to the roster system after placing
'insiders' at their proper places on the chart as
explained below:
(i) All the State Cadres/Joint Cadres should be
arranged in alphabetical order and divided into
groups which, on the basis of the average over a
period of time, are taking roughly equal number
of candidates each. On the basis of average
intake during the last 4 years, the group could be
as follows:
Group I : Andhra Pradesh, Assam-Meghalaya,
Bihar and Gujarat
Group II : Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu
& Kashmir Karnataka, Kerala and
12
Madhya Pradesh
Group III: Maharashtra, Manipur-Tripura,
Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan
and Sikkim
Group IV : Tamil Nadu, Union Territories, Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal.
(ii) Since the number of Cadres/Joint Cadres is
21, the cycles will be 1-21, 22-42, 43-63 and so
on.
(iii) The 'insider' quota should then be distributed
among the States and assigned to different cycles
of allotment. For example, if a State gets 4
'insider' candidates, they should go to the share
of the State in their respective cycles and if there
are 2 'insider' candidates from the same cycle,
they should be treated as going to the State in
two successive and so on.
(iv) The 'outsider' candidates should be arranged
in order of merit and allotted to the State cadres
in cycles as described in (v) below
(v) In the first cycle, State Cadre/Joint Cadre
which have not received 'insider' candidates
should be given one candidate each in order of
merit of 'outsider' candidates. The process should
be repeated in successive cycles, each successive
cycle beginning with the next successive group of
States, e.g., the second cycle should begin from
Group II States, the third cycle with Group III
States and the fourth cycle with Group IV States
and the first cycle again with Group I States.
Occasionally it may happen that a candidate's
turn may come in such a way that he may get
allocated to his own home State. When that
13
happens, the candidate next below him should be
exchanged with him.
(vi) For the succeeding year, the State cadres
should be arranged again in alphabetical order
but with Group I of the previous year at the
bottom, i.e., the arrangement will begin with
Group II on top. In the third year, Group III will
come on top and so on
(vii) In the case of candidates belonging to the
reserved category, such of those candidates,
whose position in the merit list is such that they
could have been appointed to the service even in
the absence of any reservation, will be treated on
par with general candidates for purposes of
allotment though they will be counted against
reserved vacancies. In respect of other candidates
belonging to the reserved category a procedure
similar to the one adopted for general category
candidates would be adopted. In other words, a
separate chart should be prepared with similar
grouping of States and similar operational details
should be followed. If there is a shortfall in
general 'insiders' quota it could however be made
up by 'insider' reserved candidates."
8. It will be clear from a reading of clause (1) of the broad
principles of allocation in the letter dated 31.05.1985
quoted above, that vacancies in every cadre are required to
be earmarked for outsiders and insiders in the ratio of 2:1
and in order to avoid problems relating to fractions and to
ensure that this ratio is maintained, over a period of time, if
not during every allocation, the breakup of vacancies in a
14
cadre between outsiders and insiders will have to be
calculated following this cycle of `outsider', `insider',
`outsider'. Clause (2) of the broad principles of allocation in
the letter dated 31.05.1985 further provides that the
vacancies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are to
be reserved in the various cadres according to the
prescribed percentage and for the purpose of this
reservation, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are to
be grouped together and the percentage to be added and
distribution of reserved vacancies in each cadre between
outsiders and insiders are to be done in the ratio of 2:1 and
this ratio is to be operationalised by following a cycle
outsider, insider, outsider as is done in the cases of general
candidates.
9. In Rajiv Yadav's case (supra), Rajiv Yadav appeared in
the Civil Services Examination held in 1988 and he was
selected for appointment to the IAS and he was placed at
Serial No.16 in the order of merit. Though he belongs to the
Union Territory of Delhi and he opted for the Union
Territory's cadre, he was allocated to the Manipur-Tripura
cadre. He challenged the order allocating him to the
15
Manipur-Tripura cadre before the Central Administrative
Tribunal, New Delhi, raising various contentions and the
Tribunal held that the power conferred by Article 16(4) of
the Constitution is only for making provision for reservation
of appointment or posts in favour of any backward class of
citizens not adequately represented in the services under
the State and cannot be extended to allocation of members
of the IAS to different cadres. The Tribunal further held
that clause (2) of the principles of allocation gave an added
benefit to IAS probationers belonging to Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes and this was not permissible under
Article 16(4) of the Constitution. This Court did not approve
of this reasoning of the Tribunal and held that the
principles of allocation as contained in clause (2) of the
letter dated 31.05.1985 do not provide for reservation for
appointments or posts and as such the question of testing
the principles of allocation on the anvil of Article 16(4) of the
Constitution does not arise. In Para 6 of the judgment in
Rajiv Yadav's case, the Court explained that in compliance
with the statutory requirements and in terms of Article 16(4)
of the Constitution, 22= % reserved category candidates are
16
recruited to the IAS and having done so, both the categories
are to be justly distributed amongst the States. The Court
also held that when a person is appointed to the All India
Service, having various State cadres, he has no right to
claim allocation to a State of his choice or to his home State
and the Central Government is under no legal obligation to
have options or even preferences from the officer concerned
and Rule 5 of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre)
Rules, 1954, made the Central Government the sole
authority to allocate the members of the service to various
cadres. This position of law was reiterated in Mhathung
Kithan and Others (supra). The Court, however, has not
held in Rajiv Yadav or in Mhathung Kithan and Others that
such authority of the Central Government can be exercised
arbitrarily or in a manner which is not equitable to the
general or reserved category candidates selected for
appointment to an All India Service. On the contrary, the
Court has held in Rajiv Yadav that the roster system as
contained in the letter dated 31.05.1985 ensures equitable
treatment to both the general candidates and the reserved
candidates.
17
10. In fact, the object of the principles of allocation
indicated in different clauses in the letter dated 31.05.1985
is not only to implement the policy having 2 outsiders and 1
insider in each cadre, but also to ensure that general and
reserved candidates selected and appointed to the All India
Service get a fair and just treatment in the matter of
allocation to different cadres. This will be clear from clause
(2) of the letter dated 31.05.1985 which states that the
vacancies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the
various cadres should be according to the prescribed
percentage and from clause (3) which states that the
allocation of insiders, both men and women, will be strictly
according to their ranks, subject to their willingness to be
allocated to their home States. This will also be clear from
clause 4(vii) which explains how the candidates belonging to
the reserved category and the general category will be dealt
with. These principles have been laid down in the letter
dated 31.05.1985 because while making allocations of
different candidates appointed to the service to different
State cadres or Joint cadres, the Central Government has
also to discharge its constitutional obligations contained in
18
the equality principles in Articles 14 and 16(1) of the
Constitution. A member appointed to the All India Service
has no right to be allocated to a particular State cadre or
Joint cadre, but he has a right to a fair and equitable
treatment in the matter of allocation under Articles 14 and
16(1) of the Constitution.
11. Coming now to the facts of this case, we find that the
High Court has in the impugned judgment extracted the
table of vacancies filled up from Civil Services Examination
1994 - 2003, as furnished in Para 28 of the counter
affidavit dated 22.03.2007 filed by the Union of India before
the High Court, which is extracted hereunder :
Total
S.No. CSE Insider Outsider
Vacancies
GE GE
OBC SC/ST OBC SC/ST
N N
1
1. 7 - 1 1 3 1 1
994
1
2. 5 1 1 - 1 1 1
995
1
3. 6 2 - - 1 2 1
996
1
4. 2 - - - 2 - -
997
1
5. 1 - 1 - - - -
998
1
6. 1 - - - 1 - -
999
2
7. 1 - - - 1 - -
000
2
8. 1 - - 1 - - -
001
2
9. 1 - - - - 1 -
002
19
2
10. 4 - 1 - 2 - 1
003
Tota
29 3 4 2 11 5 4
l
After considering this table, the High Court has held in the
impugned judgment that even according to the Union of
India, as against a total of 29 vacancies 9 OBC candidates
(4 insiders + 5 outsiders) had been allocated to the Andhra
Pradesh cadre from amongst the successful candidates of
Civil Services Examinations from 1994-2003 and if Vikrama
Varma, an insider OBC candidate, was to be allocated to the
Andhra Pradesh cadre from the selected candidates of the
Civil Services Examination, 2004, a total of 10 OBC
candidates would be allocated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre
in the 30 point roster, making the percentage of OBC
candidates to 33 1/3, which was a variation of 6% in excess
and by any standard was not a marginal variation.
12. The Union of India, in para 32 of its counter affidavit
before the Tribunal in O.A.No.286 of 2006, has, however,
stated that from the five Civil Services Examinations (1999-
2003) a total of 8 candidates appointed to the IPS were
allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, out of which 2 were
OBC candidates and 2 out of 8 does not exceed 27% and,
20
therefore, there was neither any excess nor any shortfall of
allocation of OBC candidates in the Andhra Pradesh IPS
cadre. We fail to appreciate this calculation of percentages
on reserved category candidates allotted to the Andhra
Pradesh cadre worked out on the basis of number of
candidates allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre from the
five Civil Services Examinations, from 1999 - 2003, when in
the very same counter affidavit of the Union of India filed
before the Tribunal in O.A. No. 286 of 2006, in para 21, it is
clearly stated that a 30 point roster in respect of Andhra
Pradesh was being maintained for allocation of insider and
outsider, as well as, reserved and general candidates in
accordance with clauses (1) and (2) of Para (3) of the letter
dated 31.05.1985. It appears to us that only with a view to
somehow justify the allocation of Vikrama Varma, an OBC
candidate, to the Andhra Pradesh cadre from the Civil
Services Examination, 2004, the Union of India has taken
the figures of allocation of candidates selected for the IPS in
the five Civil Services Examinations of 1999 to 2003 instead
of taking the figures of appointments to the vacancies in the
30 point roster starting from the 1994 Civil Services
21
Examination till 2003 Civil Services Examinations.
13. Admittedly, Avinash Mohanty had secured a higher
rank than Vikrama Varma in the Civil Services
Examination, 2004 and both Avinash Mohanty and Vikrama
Varma are insiders. Clause (3) of Para 3 of the letter dated
31.05.1985 states that allocation of insiders, both men and
women, will be strictly according to their ranks, subject to
their willingness to be allocated to their home States.
Hence, Avinash Mohanty was required to be considered for
allocation to the Andhra Pradesh cadre if he had given his
willingness for being allocated to his home State, Andhra
Pradesh, before Vikrama Varma could be considered for
such allocation. If, however, the vacancy for which
consideration was being made was a vacancy for an insider
OBC candidate in the 30 point roster, Vikrama Varma
would have preference over Avinash Mohanty. But the High
Court has come to a finding that the number of vacancies in
the 30 point roster filled up by OBC candidates from Civil
Services Examinations 1999-2003 were 9 and had exceeded
the 27% reservation for OBC candidates and hence there
could not be an insider OBC vacancy in which Vikrama
22
Varma could have been allocated. The High Court was,
therefore, right in coming to the conclusion that allocation
of Vikrama Varma to the Andhra Pradesh cadre was in
violation of the guidelines contained in the letter dated
31.05.1985 and was clearly arbitrary and not equitable.
14. In our view, complexity of a decision making process
cannot be a defence when a grievance is made before the
Court by a citizen that his fundamental right to equality has
been violated. When such a grievance is made before the
Court, the authorities have to justify their impugned
decision by placing the relevant material before the Court.
As has been held by a Constitution Bench of this Court in
M. Nagaraj vs. Union of India [(2006) 8 SCC 212] at 277 in
Para 118:
"The constitutional principle of equality is
inherent in the rule of law. However, its reach is
limited because its primary concern is not with
the content of the law but with its enforcement
and application. The rule of law is satisfied
when laws are applied or enforced equally, that
is, even-handedly, free of bias and without
irrational distinction. The concept of equality
allows differential treatment but it prevents
distinctions that are not properly justified.
Justification needs each case to be decided on
case-to-case basis."
23
We are also of the considered opinion that the impugned
order of the High Court quashing the allocations of Vikrama
Varma and Avinash Mohanty and directing reconsideration
of their allocation will not have cascading effects on the
service because the High Court has only quashed the
allocation of only two members of the IPS, namely, Avinash
Mohanty and Vikrama Varma, and not of other members of
the IPS and directed reconsideration of their allocation.
15. We, therefore, do not find any merit in these appeals
and we dismiss the same and vacate the interim orders
staying the operation of the impugned judgment. No order
as to costs.
.............................J.
(R. V. Raveendran)
.............................J.
(A. K. Patnaik)
New Delhi,
July 12, 2011.