G. SRINIVAS RAO Vs UNION OF INDIA .
Bench: R.V. RAVEENDRAN,A.K. PATNAIK, , ,
Case number: C.A. No.-001911-001911 / 2006
Diary number: 9752 / 2005
Advocates: G. RAMAKRISHNA PRASAD Vs
UGRA SHANKAR PRASAD
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Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1911 OF 2006
G. Srinivas Rao … Appellant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. … Respondents
J U D G M E N T
A. K. PATNAIK, J.
This is an appeal by special leave under Article 136 of
the Constitution against the order dated 03.02.2005 of the
Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court
dismissing Writ Petition No.8072 of 2004 filed by the
appellant.
2. The facts very briefly are that the appellant, a general
candidate not belonging to any reserved category, took the
Civil Services Examination, 1998 conducted by the Union
Public Service Commission and he secured 95th rank and
was appointed to the IPS and was allocated to the Manipur-
Tripura Joint Cadre on 27.10.1999. Respondent No.4, who
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as an OBC candidate, also took the Civil Services
Examination, 1998 and secured 133rd rank and was
appointed to the IPS and was allocated to the Andhra
Pradesh Cadre on 27.07.1999. The appellant filed O.A.
No.155 of 2001 before the Central Administrative Tribunal,
Hyderabad Bench, contending that instead of respondent
no.4 he should have been allocated to the Andhra Pradesh
Cadre and that the allocation of respondent no.4 to the
Andhra Pradesh Cadre was bad in law, unjust and
unsustainable. The appellant prayed for a direction from
the Tribunal to the respondent no.1 to allocate him to the
Andhra Pradesh Cadre. The Tribunal, however, did not find
any irregularity in the roster system followed by the
respondent no.1 in making the allocations and by order
dated 25.07.2001 dismissed the O.A. The appellant
challenged the order dated 25.07.2001 of the Tribunal
before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution
in Writ Petition No.17902 of 2002 and contended that
though there was in the year 1999 a vacancy for a general
candidate in the Andhra Pradesh Cadre to which the
appellant could be allocated, this was converted to a
3
vacancy for OBC candidate and the respondent no.4 was
allocated to this vacancy in the Andhra Pradesh Cadre. The
appellant also contended before the High Court that this
vacancy for a general candidate was converted to a vacancy
for OBC candidate on the ground that relevant data for five
years in respect of OBC was not available though actually
such data was available. Since this aspect of the matter
had not been considered by the Tribunal, the High Court
allowed the Writ Petition, set aside the order of the Tribunal
and remanded the case to the Tribunal for fresh
consideration.
3. After the case was remanded to the Tribunal, the
respondent no.1 filed a petition before the Tribunal seeking
leave to file an additional affidavit and pursuant to leave
granted by the Tribunal, the respondent no.1 filed an
additional affidavit. In this additional affidavit, the
respondent no.1 stated that a total number of 36 vacancies
in the IPS were to be filled up on the basis of the Civil
Services Examination, 1998 and out of total number of 36
vacancies, 21 vacancies were to be filled up by general
candidates, 10 vacancies were to be filled up by OBC
4
candidates and 5 vacancies were to be filled up by SC/ST
candidates in accordance with the reservation provisions
and the roster points and in May 1999, the vacancies were
distributed category-wise in the following manner:-
S.L Cadre Total vacan -cies
27% OBC rounded off
22.5 % SC/ST rounded off
Genera l
1. Andhra Pradesh 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 2. Assam
Meghalaya 1 .27 0 .225 0 1
3. Bihar 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 4. Gujarat 3 .81 1 .675 1 1 5. Haryana 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 6. Himachal
Pradesh 1 .27 0 .225 0 1
7. J & K 3 .81 1 .675 1 1 8. Karnataka 3 .81 1 .675 1 1 9. Kerala 2 .54 1 .450 0 1
10. Madhya Pradesh 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 11. Maharashtra 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 12. Manipur Tripura 4 1.08 1 .900 1 2 13. Nagaland 2 .54 1 .450 0 1 14. Orissa 2 .54 1 .450 0 1 15. Punjab 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 16. Rajasthan 4 1.08 1 .900 1 2 17. Sikkim 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 18. Tamil Nadu 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 19. AGMU 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 20. Uttar Pradesh 1 .27 0 .225 0 1 21. West Bengal 1 .27 0 .225 0 1
Total 36 8 5 23
Respondent no.1 further stated in the additional affidavit
that since as per the distribution made in the aforesaid
table, the total number of vacancies for general candidates
worked out to be 23 instead of 21 and total number of
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vacancies for OBC candidates worked out to be 8 instead of
10, 2 vacancies for general candidates had to be converted
to 2 vacancies for OBC candidates. The respondent no.1
has also stated in the additional affidavit that as the
relevant data for the last five years in respect of OBC
candidates was not available with the respondent on
28.05.1999 when the entire exercise of allocation was
completed and approved by the competent authority and the
data for four years, i.e. from the Civil Services
Examinations, 1994 to Civil Services Examinations, 1995,
was available, the earlier advice of the Department of
Personnel and Training in Annexure R-1 to the additional
affidavit of the respondent no.1 was followed and two
general vacancies from the first two States in the
alphabetical order, one from the Andhra Pradesh Cadre and
one from the Assam-Meghalaya Joint Cadre, were converted
to OBC vacancies and the result was that respondent no.4
was allocated to the OBC vacancy of Andhra Pradesh Cadre.
The Tribunal in its order dated 09.01.2004 accepted this
explanation of the respondent no.1 and rejected the
argument of the appellant that the respondent no.1 had
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arbitrarily taken a lower ranking candidate in preference to
high ranking general candidate while making the allocation
to the Andhra Pradesh Cadre. Aggrieved, the appellant filed
Writ Petition No.8072 of 2004 before the Andhra Pradesh
High Court and contended that despite availability of data
pertaining to OBC candidates for five years, the respondent
no.1 did not consider the same while making the allocation.
In the impugned order, however, the High Court held that
this apprehension of the appellant was factually without
any basis and did not find any fault with the order of the
Tribunal. In the impugned order, the High Court also took
the view that the appellant was required to implead all the
candidates of his batch of IPS, as respondents in the O.A. as
well as in the Writ Petition but had not done so and thus
relief could not be granted to the appellant. The High Court
further held in the impugned order that the allocation of the
appellant to the Manipur-Tripura Joint Cadre was intimated
to him by a letter dated 21.10.1999, but he filed the O.A. in
2001 and by the time the impugned order was passed, the
officers would have undergone attachment training and a
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wholesale or extensive review of the cadre allocation at a
belated stage would not be conducive to public interest.
4. Mr. Ranjit Kumar, learned counsel for the
appellant, submitted that this Court has held in R.
K. Sabharwal and Others v. State of Punjab and
Others [(1995) 2 SCC 745] that the prescribed
percentage of reservation of posts for backward
classes cannot be varied or changed. He
submitted that in M. Nagaraj v. Union of India
[(2006) 8 SCC 212] a Constitution Bench of this
Court has further observed that the reservation
provision should not lead to excessiveness so as to
breach the ceiling limit of the reserved quota. He
submitted that the Secretary, Government of India,
Ministry of Personnel & Training Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances, has in his letter
dated 31.05.1985 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the
letter dated 31.05.1985) laid down the broad
principles of allocation on the basis of roster
system which are to be followed while making
allocation of officers appointed to All India Services
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and a reading of these principles of allocation
would show that the vacancies are to be reserved
in various cadres according to prescribed
percentage and, therefore, the prescribed
percentage of reservation including that of OBC
cannot be exceeded. He submitted that in Union of
India v. Rajiv Yadav, IAS and Others [(1994) 6 SCC
38] this Court, after examining the principles of
cadre allocation in the letter dated 31.05.1985,
held that the “Roster System” ensures equitable
treatment to both the general candidates and the
reserved categories. He referred to the Chart
annexed as Annexure P/19 to show that the
percentage of OBC candidates allocated to the
Andhra Pradesh Cadre from Civil Services
Examination 1994 to 1998 was as high as 33%
which was far in excess of the 27% reservation in
favour of OBC. He vehemently argued that the
Chart in Annexure P/19 further shows that in
various other State cadres the total percentage of
OBC candidates allocated from the Civil Services
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Examinations of 1994 to 1998 was less than 27%
and, therefore, the respondent no.1 should not
have converted the vacancy for general candidate
in Andhra Pradesh Cadre to a vacancy for OBC
candidate. According to Mr. Ranjit Kumar, since
there is breach of the principles of allocation and
the roster system as laid down in the letter dated
31.05.1985 and the allocation of respondent no.4
to the Andhra Pradesh Cadre was in excess of the
27% quota for OBC, this is a fit case in which this
Court should quash the allocation of the
respondent no.4 and instead direct respondent
no.1 to allocate the appellant to the Andhra
Pradesh Cadre.
5. Mr. Mohan Parasaran, learned Additional Solicitor
General, on the other hand, submitted that the
impugned order of the Tribunal should not be
disturbed as it contains good reasons for not
interfereing in the allocation of the officers of the
1999 batch of IPS. He submitted that while
distributing the vacancies in an All India Service,
10
the Central Government has to consider plurality
of choices and allocating two OBC vacancies to the
cadres of States which were first two in the
alphabetical order is one of the choices open to the
Central Government when relevant data for the
last five years in respect of the OBC candidates
was not available when the exercise of allocation
was completed and approved by the competent
authority. He submitted that the decision of this
Court in R. K. Sabharwal and Others v. State of
Punjab and Others (supra), cited by Mr. Ranjit
Kumar, relates to maintenance of roster for the
purpose of reservation of posts and may have
relevance for the appointment to the IPS but has
no relevance to allocation of members of the All
India Service to different cadres after their
appointment.
6. Mr. Neeraj Kumar Jain, learned counsel appearing
for respondent no.4, contended that the equitable
distribution of vacancies for general candidates
and reserved candidates is required to be ensured
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by the letter dated 31.05.1985 over a period of time
and not every time the allocation is made to a
cadre and thus the contention of the appellant that
the allocation of the respondent no.4 to the Andhra
Pradesh Cadre has not ensured such equitable
distribution is not correct. He further submitted
that in any case the allocations of respondent no.4
to the Andhra Pradesh Cadre and the appellant to
the Manipur-Tripura Cadre were made as far back
as in the year 1999 and the appellant filed the O.A.
after two years in 2001 and that too after he
accepted the allocation and the High Court rightly
held that the allocation made in the year 1999
could not be disturbed by a challenge to the
allocations in 2001. He finally submitted that
respondent no.4 has been working in the Andhra
Pradesh Cadre since 1999 and should not be
disturbed at this stage by this Court.
7. We have considered the submissions of the learned
counsel for the parties and we find that Rule 3 of
the IPS (Cadre) Rules, 1954 provides that each
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State and a group of States will have a State cadre
or Joint Cadre respectively of the IPS and Rule 5 of
the Cadre Rules provides 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. We further find that in Para 3 of
the letter dated 31.05.1985 the broad principles
which are to be followed for allocation on the basis
of roster system have been indicated by the Central
Government. Clauses (2) of Para 3, on which Mr.
Ranjit Kumar placed reliance, is extracted
hereinbelow:-
“(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.”
It will be clear from Clause (2) of Para 3 of the letter dated
31.05.1985 that the vacancies for Scheduled Castes and
13
Scheduled Tribes are to be reserved in the various cadres
according to the prescribed percentage 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. What
is, therefore, contemplated by Clause (2) of Para 3 of the
letter dated 31.05.1985 is that a roster for each cadre, with
vacancies earmarked for outsider and insider and for
general candidates and reserved candidates is maintained
and allocations of outsider, insider, general and reserved
candidates are made to these earmarked vacancies. It will
be further clear from Clause (2) of Para 3 that the vacancies
for the reserved categories are not to exceed the prescribed
percentage for the reserved category ‘in the various cadres’.
8. The case of the respondent no.1 in the additional
affidavit filed before the Tribunal was that in
accordance with the reservation provisions and the
roster points as explained by this Court in R. K.
Sabharwal and Others v. State of Punjab and
Others (supra), 36 candidates were selected to the
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IPS, out of whom 21 were general candidates, 10
were OBC candidates and 5 were SC/ST
candidates. These 36 candidates were to be
allocated to the different State and Joint Cadres
and were initially proposed to be distributed in
May, 1999 in the manner given in the Chart in
Para 3 of this judgment, but the authorities found
that by distribution of vacancies, only 8 out of 10
selected OBC candidates could be accommodated
in the different cadres and 23 instead of 21
selected general candidates would get
accommodated in the different cadres. It was,
therefore, necessary for the competent authority to
increase 2 vacancies to adjust 2 more OBC
candidates and reduce 2 vacancies proposed for
general candidates so that ultimately the 10 OBC
candidates could be allocated to 10 vacancies in
different cadres and 21 general candidates could
be allocated to 21 vacancies in different cadres.
The competent authority accordingly diverted two
vacancies for general candidates, one from the
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Andhra Pradesh Cadre and one from the Assam-
Meghalaya Joint Cadre, to vacancies for
accommodating two more OBC candidates selected
for appointment. The reason for choosing the
Andhra Pradesh Cadre and the Assam-Meghalaya
Joint Cadre for converting two vacancies for
general candidates to vacancies for OBC
candidates is that when the allocation was
finalized by the competent authority on
28.05.1999, relevant data in respect of OBC
candidates was available only for four years, i.e.
from Civil Services Examination, 1994 to Civil
Services Examination, 1997, but was not available
for the fifth year because allocation for the fifth
year on the basis of Civil Services Examination,
1998 was yet to be notified and ultimately got
notified in October, 1999. Respondent No.1 has
further explained in his additional affidavit filed
before the Tribunal that the Andhra Pradesh Cadre
and the Assam-Meghalaya Joint Cadre were
chosen for diversion of the two vacancies for
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accommodating two OBC candidates in accordance
with an earlier advice of the Department of
Personnel and Training annexed to the affidavit is
Annexure R-1 to follow the alphabetical order while
choosing the States for decrease or increase in
OBC vacancies in the absence of data for 5 years
in relation to OBC allocation.
9. We fail to appreciate how data for 5 years in respect of
allocation of OBC candidates was relevant for making the
allocation when Clause (2) of Para 3 of the letter dated
31.05.1985 required that a roster in each cadre with
vacancies for insider, outsider, general and reserved
candidates not exceeding prescribed percentage was
required to be maintained and allocations of candidates
selected in the All India Services were to be made in these
vacancies earmarked for insider, outsider, general
candidates or reserved candidates. As has been held by this
Court in Union of India v. Rajiv Yadav, IAS and Others
(supra), the roster system ensures equitable treatment to
both the general candidates and reserved candidates and
hence the roster system cannot be by-passed on some
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ground or the other which may result in unfair treatment to
either general candidates or reserved candidates in violation
of their right to equality under Articles 14 and 16(1) of the
Constitution.
10. Nonetheless, we find that the appellant was allocated
to the Manipur-Tripura Cadre on 27.07.1999 and was
intimated about such allocation by letter dated 02.10.1999.
Instead of challenging the allocations made in 1999 at the
earliest, the appellant filed the O.A. before the Tribunal
only in 2001 by which time the 36 candidates including the
respondent no.4, who had been selected and appointed to
the IPS on the basis of Civil Services Examination, 1998
and had been allocated to different cadres, had already
joined their respective cadres and undertaken training in
their respective States. The High Court thus held in the
impugned order that the wholesale or extensive review of
the cadre allocation at a belated stage was not conducive to
public interest. For granting relief to the appellant, the
Tribunal or the Court will have to direct the respondent
No.1 to undertake afresh the exercise of allocation in
accordance with the roster system as provided in the letter
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dated 31.05.1985 and allocate the 36 officers of the IPS
appointed on the basis of the Civil Services Examinations,
1998 and such an exercise will disturb the allocation of
several members of the IPS.
11. In our considered opinion, therefore, the High Court
was right in taking a view that no relief can be granted to
the appellant on the ground of delay on the part of the
appellant in moving the Tribunal. The appeal is therefore
dismissed. No order as to costs.
.……………………….J. (R. V. Raveendran)
………………………..J. (A. K. Patnaik) New Delhi, July 19, 2011.