it Petition No 1147 of 1988
Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India WITH Civil Appeal No 1782 of 1990
330 From the Judgment and Order dated 561987 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in CWP No 13 13 of 1986 R Venkataramani Mahabir Singh MS Ganesh and CM Nayar for the Appearing Parties
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SABYASACHI MUKHARJI CJ
The petitioners are law graduates
They state that they belong to scheduled castes and sched uled tribes segments of the community
They are seeking enforcement of the right to equality of opportunity in the matter of appointment to posts in the subordinate judiciary in the State of Haryana
The State of Haryana has reserved 20 of the posts in the Haryana Civil Service Judicial Branch for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
It is the case of petitioners that though 20 of the posts in the Haryana Civil Service Judicial Branch have been reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes the strength of the appointments made since 1969 onwards reveals that hardly 8 of the total posts ie 40 to 45 only of the cadre strength have been allotted to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
The petitioners contend that in other States of India different percentages of marks have been prescribed for scheduled castes scheduled tribes and gener al candidates for determining their suitability andor eligibility for appointment
But in Haryana they contend minimum marks have been prescribed as 55 for all categories of candidates namely scheduled castes scheduled tribes and general candidates
In this connection it may be appropriate to refer to the fact that under the Punjab Civil Services Judicial Branch Rules framed in exercise of powers conferred by Article 234 read with proviso to Article 309 of the Consti tution of India rules have been framed and are prevalent
Part C  of the rules deals with the rules and instructions for the examination of the candidates for admission to the judicial branch of the Haryana Civil Service
Part C  of the said rules was brought into force by the Haryana Adapta tion Laws State and concurrent subjects Order 1968
Rules 7 and 8 of the said rules inter alia provides as follows 7
No candidate shall be called for the viva voce test unless he obtains at least 45 of marks in the aggregate in all the written papers and 33 marks in the language paper Hindi in Devanagri script
331 8
No candidate shall be considered to have qualified in the examination unless he obtains at least 55 per cent marks in the aggregate of all papers including the viva voce test
 It is the case of the petitioners that fixation of the standard of marks which the petitioners describe as high standard has resulted in denial of opportunity to the scheduled castes and  scheduled tribes thus amounting to denial of equality of opportunity in the jobs which the petitioners contend the State otherwise sought to achieve and ought to achieve in favour of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
We are of the opinion that equality of opportunity should be striven for and ensured in public employment
Steps should be taken to see where unequals are competing conditions must be created by relaxation or otherwise so that unequals compete in terms of equality with others in respect of jobs and employments of the State
Our Constitu tion so enjoins it
Article 38 of the Constitution read with Articles 14 15 and 16 so mandates it
In order therefore to give those who are unequals and it is accepted that scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for reasons historical or otherwise are unequal with the general members of the community in respect of ability and qualification for public employment
Hence in order to make the unequals compete on conditions of equality certain relaxations and other factors ensuring equality are imperative
Those groups or segments of society which are by reasons of history or otherwise unable to compete in terms of absolute equality with the members of other communities or groups in the society should be ensured and assured chances of competing in terms of equality
They must be helped to compete equally but it is important to emphasise that equality of opportunity is sought to be achieved for the public services or employment
The efficacy and efficiency of that service is of prime consideration  Equality must be there for all to compete for the public services
Public services and public employ ment do not exist for providing jobs in terms of equality or otherwise to all
Only public services and public employment must serve public purpose and nothing that hampers or im pairs the efficiency or efficacy of public services cannot and should not be permitted in ensuring conditions of con stitutional equality
These should be done objectively rationally and reasonably
As is often said it may be that need to ensure equality for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes should not be surrendered on the facile and value based perception of efficiency
Yet efficiency must be ensured
Real equality must be accorded
332 As mentioned hereinbefore the contention of the peti tioners is that 55 marks in aggregate in all papers includ ing viva voce test constitute rather a high standard for qualification and eligibility
They contend that for most of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe aspirants for the job it is difficult to achieve that standard
It is said that in other parts of this vast land of ours the standard is not as high as that
Sri Venkatramani advocate for the petitioners contended that in other States on an all India basis such a high standard of marks is not envisaged
Sri Mahabir Singh learned advocate appearing for the State of Haryana and Sri CM Nayar learned advocate for the Public Service Commission contend that it must be presumed that the minimum percentage desirable for the purpose of efficiency has been prescribed
It was further submitted by Sri Nayar that in respect of candidates other than scheduled castes and scheduled tribes normally those obtaining far higher than 55 marks become eligible for consideration
That may or may not be so but what is required is that we must ensure efficiency in administration
We must therefore objective ly rationally and by a conscious process conscious in the sense by application of mind to the relevant factors arrive at a percentage which should be considered to be a minimum one in order to ensure the efficiency of the administration
We are conscious that high efficiency is required because the recruitment is in the judicial branch that is to say for prospective judicial officers who will be in charge of administration of justice in the country
But at the same time if possible in order to ensure that there is equality of opportunity a percentage should be fixed which without in any way compromising with the efficiency required for the job which will be attainable by backward communities that is to say scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
Unless such a percentage is fixed on the aforesaid basis and a percentage is fixed for qualification which would normally be unattainable by the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes determined on an objective basis it would not be possible to ensure equality of opportunity
Both SSri Mahabir Singh and Nayar have urged that the minimum must be presumed to have been so fixed in the Haryana Service
However that fact is not apparent and there is nothing on record to indicate that this percentage was fixed deliberately on an analysis and careful examination and determination on the lines and the principles indicated above
In that view of the matter in our opinion in the interest of justice and our constitutional mandates and in the light of the efficiency of the services and with a view to create a sense of justice it is necessary for the Gov ernment concerned to consider this question as 333 to what should be the minimum percentage of marks necessary for the administration
We direct that the Government will make a conscious decision objectively before the next selec tions for the post in Haryana Judicial Service take place and determine a minimum percentage of marks consistent with efficiency and the need for ensuring equality of opportunity to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
It was also contended by Sri Venkataramani that some of the candidates belonging to the scheduled castes and sched uled tribes have become overaged therefore the Government should also consider whether further relaxation in age in favour of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes can be made and if so to what extent without hampering efficiency of the administration
This should also be considered before the next selections for appointment to the post are made
In the aforesaid light special leave is granted in civil appeal No 1500088 and the judgment and order of the High Court of Punjab  Haryana dated 5th June 1987 are modified to the extent indicated above
The writ petition and the appeals are disposed of accordingly without any order as to costs
PSS Petition disposed of


Summary:
The appellant a registered dealer under the Karnataka Sales Tax Act 1957 was purchasing iron scraps from dealers inside and outside the State of Karnataka for the purpose of manufacturing iron ingots steel rounds and for steel
He filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 54 of the Act in so far as it pertains to item 2 of Schedule IV to the Act read with Explanation II thereof in respect of its application prior to 1478 as violative of Article 304a of the Constitution on the ground that it discriminates in respect of sale of steel ingots manufactured out of raw material purchased from outside the State which was subject to tax while sale of similar goods manufactured out of locally purchased raw material was not subjected to tax
The High Court dismissed the writ petition upholding the constitutional validity of the impugned provisions
Hence this appeal by special leave
Setting aside the judgment of the High Court and allow ing the appeal this Court 253 HELD 1
The similarity contemplated by Article 304a is in the nature of the quality and kind of the goods and not with respect to whether they were subject to a tax already or not
262A 2
Section 54 of the Act in so far it pertains to item 2 of Schedule IV to the Act read with Explanation II thereof in respect of its application for the period prior to 141978 is violative of Article 304a of the Constitution
255C D 272D Firm ATB Mehtab Majid and Co vs State of Madras andAnr 1963 Suppl
2 SCR 435 and A Hajee Abdul Skakoor and Co vs State of Madras   followed
State of Madras vs
NK Nataraja Mudaliar 19681 3 SCR 829 Rattan Lal  Co vs Assessing Authority  and Associated Tanners vs Commercial Tax Officer Vizi anagaram and Ors 1986 62 STC 1 explained
Mangalore Metal House vs State of Karnataka 1986 63 STC 482 State of Bombay vs United Motors India Ltd  and Bengal Immunity Company Ltd vs State of Bihar  referred to