ition Civil Nos1003 1005 of 1984
Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India 
PG NO 626 RK Garg Pankaj Kalra and PK Jain for the Petitioners
VC Mahajan Ms A Subhashini CV Subba Rao Grish Chander SK Mehta Dhruv Mehta Aman Vachher SM Sarin and Jagannath Goulay Nf for the Respondents
The Judgments of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J People belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and to other weaker sections of society in India are the zealously protected children of the Indian Constitution
Article 46 of the Constitution provides that the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interest of the weaker sections of the people and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation
While clause 1 of Article 15 of the Constitution provides that the State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion race caste
sex place of birth or any of them clause 4 of that Article provides that nothing in the said Article or in clause 2 of Article 29 of the Constitution shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Schedule Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
Simlarly while clause 4 of Article 16 of the Constitution provides that there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State and clause 2 of the said Article provides that no citizen shall on grounds only of religion race caste sex descent place of birth residence or any of them be ineligible for or discriminated against in respect of any employment or office under the State clause 4 of the said Article provides that nothing in that Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which in the opinion of the State is not adequately represented in the services under the State
Article 330 and Article 332 of the Constitution provide for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States till such period as is provided in Article 334 of the Constitution
Article 335 of the Constitution which is relevant for purposes of this case provides that the claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State
PG NO 627 The present case is however one in which a concession which had been extended to the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes by way of reservation of vacancies at the stage of promotion has been withdrawn in a rather concealed way
Petitioners 1 and 2 in this Writ Petition are the P  T Scheduled CasteTribe Employees  Welfare Assocation Regd Delhi and the Federation of all India Scheduled Castes  Scheduled Tribes Employees P  T Department New Delhi and Petitioner 3 is an employee in the Posts  Telegraphs Department
By the letter bearing No 27271 Estt
SCT dated 27111972 issued by the Department of Personnel the Government communicated its policy regarding the reservations for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in posts filled by promotionpromotions on the basis of seniority subject to fitness
The said policy was adopted by the Government in supersession of the orders contained in an earlier Government Order dated 1171968
Under the said policy a reservation of 15 per cent of vacancies was made for the Scheduled Castes and 7 12 percent for the Scheduled Tribes wherever promotions were to be made on the basis of seniority subject to fitness in appointments to all Class I Class II Class III and Class IV posts in grades or services in which the element of direct recruitment if any did not exceed 50 per cent
In order to implement the above reservation the Government directed the appointing authorities to maintain a separate 40 point roster to determine the number of reserved vacancies in a year in which points 18 14 22 28  36 had to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and points 4 17 and 31 had to be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes
Detailed instructions were issued to the appointing authorities to make promotions in accordance with the directions contained therein so that members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes could have an advantage of getting promotion to a higher cadre much earlier than the employees who did not belong to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
By the letter of the Department of Personnel  Administrative Reforms bearing OM No 81173 Estt
SCT dated 129
1974 addressed to all the Ministries further instructions were issued with regard to the reservation of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in posts filled by promotionsappointments to Selection Grade posts directing reservation of 15 per cent of vacancies for Scheduled Castes and 7 12 per cent for Scheduled Tribes
As regards the Posts  Telegraphs employees working under the P  T Board the Ministry of Communications by it letter No 31 1974 PE I dated 156
1974 gave certain further directions with regard to the filling up of posts by promotion conferring certain other advantages on persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes
The policy PG NO 628 of reservation contained in the above three Government letters was continued till the year 1983 in the Post  Telegraphs Department
It would appear that in the year 1983 an agreement was arrived at between the Ministry of Communications and certain associations of employees working in the Posts  Telegraphs Department and as a consequence of the said agreement a fresh order relating to the policy of promotion to be adopted in the Posts  Telegraphs Department was issued in supersession of the scheme of reservation which was being followed till then
The said New policy the validity of which is challenged before us is contained in the letter bearing No 31 2683 PE l dated 17
1983 addressed to all heads of circles
Under this new policy it was decided that with effect from 30111983 all officials belonging to basic grades in Group C and Group D to which there was direct recruitment either from outside andor by means of limited competitive examination from lower cadres and who had completed 16 years of service in that grade would be placed in the next higher grade
This policy it is alleged was introduced in order to remove the effects of stagnation of employees in a particular grade for nearly 20 to 23 years without being promoted to higher grade
It would appear that under the scheme which was prevailing prior to 30111983 it was possible for members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to secure promotion to the higher cadre within a period of 10 to 12 years while the other employees had to wait for nearly 20 to 23 years
Thus an advantage had been conferred on the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes since they could secure promotion Within a shorter period
Under the new policy irrespective of the fact whether an employee belonged to the general category or to the category of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes he would gory of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes he would be able to get promotion to the higher cadre on the completion of 16 years
Thereby the comparative advantage which the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes were enjoying was taken away and all the employees namely the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes the Scheduled Tribes and to the other categories were placed at par
However clause 6 of the said letter dated 17121983 which contained the new policy reads thus 6
For promotions under the time bound one promotion scheme the normal orders relating to reservation for SCST communities will not apply unless any specific order in this regard is subsequently issued
 PG NO 629 It is admitted that no specific order has been issued by the Government pursuant to clause 6 so far
But the earlier orders providing for reservation in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes were made inapplicable
Aggrieved by the action taken by the Government in implementing the policy contained in letter dated 23
l983 which had the effect of depriving the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes of the advantage which they were enjoying the petitioners have filed this petition questioning the said action
The petition is resisted by the respondents
It is urged on behalf of the Government that the time bound one promotion scheme  contained in the letter dated 231283 was advantageous to all the employees since all of them would get automatically promoted to a higher cadre on completing 16 years of service in a cadre and that it had been issued with the consent of the Federations of Employees of the Posts  Telegraphs Department
It is not disputed that in many of the other departments of the Union Government the scheme of reservation of posts for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes is in vogue in cases of promotions from the lower grades to the higher grades when they are done on the basis of seniority subject to fitness and under the said policy the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes working in the other departments have been conferred an extra advantage which was not available to the Candidates belonging to other categories and that in the Posts  Telegraphs Department also the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes were enjoying a similar advantage before 30111983 on which date the policy contained in the letter dated 23121983 come into force
Even the letter dated 232121983 while it sets at naught the normal orders relating to reservation for the Scheduled Casts and the Scheduled Tribes in the Posts Telegraphs Department in force in the other department provides for the issue of specific orders by the Government under which the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes  the Scheduled Tribes could gain some extra advantage
Admittedly no such order has been issued till today
The petitioners have prayed that a direction should be issued to the Government to issue specific order conferring on them such an extra advantage
We feel that the claim made by the petitioners is fully justified in view of the fact that similar advantage is being enjoyed by persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in other Departments and only they have been deprived of it
Such deprivation violates the equality clause of the Constitution
While it may be true that no writ can be issued ordinarily competing the Government to make reservation under Article 164 which PG NO 630 is only an enabling clause the circumstances in which the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Posts and Telegraphs Department are deprived of indirectly the advantage of such reservation which they were enjoying earlier while others who are similarly situated in the other departments are allowed to enjoy it make the action of Government discriminatory and invite intervention by this Court
One of the methods by which the Government can confer some extra advantage on the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in cases of this nature where promotion to higher cadre is a time bound one is to direct that the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes may be promoted to the higher cadre on completion of a shorter period of service than what is prescribed for others
In this particular case it is open to the Government to direct that while all others would be entitled to be promoted to the higher cadre on completion of 16 years of service the members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes may be promoted to the higher cadre on completion of say 12 or 13 years of service
There may be other methods of achieving the same result
The claim for conferment of some extra advantage on the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes employees working in the Posts  Telegraphs Department which may be commensurate with the extra advantage which members belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes are enjoying in the other departments of the Government of the maintenance of efficiency in the service appear to be a reasonable one
In what way it should be done is a matter left to the discretion of the Government
This should be decided by the Government taking into consideration all aspects of the case
We therefore issue a direction to the Government of India to issue an order under clause 6 of the letter dated some additional advantage on the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Post  Telegraphs Department commensurate with similar advantages which are being enjoyed by the employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the other departments of th Government of India
The Government shall issue such an order accordingly within four months from today
Any order that may be issued by the Government shall operate prospectively
All promotions that have been made so far pursuant to the policy contained in the letter dated 23121983 and that may be made hereafter till the date on PG NO 631 which the direction to be issued by the Government under clause 6 comes into operationshall however remain undisturbed
This petition is accordingly allowed
No costs
GN Petition allowed


Summary:
The petitioner had filed a Writ Petition Criminal No 1951 of 1985 in the Supreme Court praying that the respondents States be directed a to release all children detained in the jails in the respondent States  b to furnish complete information respecting all children detained in the States and the circumstances and the legal facts of such detention and the number of available juvenile courts and children homes c to appoint district judges of the districts to visit jails sub jails and lock ups to identify and release children in such illegal detention d to requisition immediately necessary buildings and provide infrastructure and make immediate interim arrangements for places of housing  of children sought directions to the respective States Legal
Aid Boards District Legal Aid Committees through the appointment of  duty_counsel  to ensure protection of the right of the children etc
The said petition was treated as a public interest litigation and in regard to most of the areas covered by the aforesaid prayers orders were made from time to time by this Court
However being dissatisfied with the progress of the case the petitioner preferred a Misc
Petition for leave to withdraw the main public interest litigation on the PG NO 643 PG NO 644 grounds 1 that the Supreme Court has become dysfunctional in relation to and in the context of the gravity of the violations of the rights of children and the urgency of the requisite remedial steps and that though the proceedings were listed for final disposal in the month of November 1986 however owing to unjustified adjournments obtained by the respondents and owing further to the functional deficiencies of the procedure of this court the proceedings have not yet been finally disposed of 2 that the Court has not been able to exact prompt compliance with its own orders and directions issued from time to time from the respondents 3 that the applicant is disabled from conducting proceedings with dignity as certain happenings in Court had the effect of casting and tended to cast a slur on her integrity and dignity and 4 that the proceedings were brought as a voluntary action and that applicant is entitled to sustain her right to be the petitioner in person in a public interest litigation and that the proceedings cannot be proceeded with after delinking her from the proceedings
Dismissing the criminal miscellaneous petition HELD 1 The permission to withdraw the main petition is refused and it is directed that the applicant be deleted from the array of parties in this proceeding
The proceedings shall now be proceeded with a direction to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee to prosecute the petition together with the aid and assistance of such persons or agencies as the Court may permit or direct from time to time
667B C 1ii The order dated 581986 and I381986 forbidding the applicant from using the information collected by her during her visits to jails and other custodial institutions cannot he modified during the pendency of the proceedings as the information was gathered for purposes of the case and pursuant to the directions of this Court
667D 2i The rights of those who bring the action on behalf of the others must necessarily be subordinate to the interests of those for whose benefit the action is brought
652C 2ii In a public interest litigation unlike traditional disputeresolution mechanism there is no determination or adjudication of individual rights
While in the ordinary conventional adjudications the party structure is merely bi polar and the controversy pertains to the determination of the legal consequences of past events and the remedy is essentially linked to and limited by the logic of the array of the parties in a public interest action the PG NO 645 proceedings cut across and transcend these traditional forms and inhibitions
The compulsions for the judicial innovation of the technique of a public interest action is the constitutional promise of a social and economic transformation to usher in an egalitarian social order and a welfare State Effective solutions to the problems peculiar to this transformation are not available in the traditional judicial system
The proceedings in a public interest litigation are therefore intended to vindicate and effectuate the public interest by prevention ot violation of the rights constitutional or statutory of sizeable segments of the society which owing to poverty ignorance social and economic disadvantages cannot themselves assert and quite often not even aware of those rights
The technique of public interest litigation serves to provide an effective remedy to enforce these group rights and interests
In order that these public causes are brought before the courts the procedural techniques judicially innovated specially for the public interest action recognises the concomitant need to lower the locus standi threshoIds so as to enable public minded citizens or social action groups to act as conduits between these classes of persons of inherence and the forum for the assertion and enforcement of their rights
The dispute is not comparable to one between private parties with the result there is no recognition of the status of a Dominus Litis for any individual or group of individuals to determine the course of destination of the proceedings except to the extent recognised and permitted by the court
651E H 652A C 2iii What corresponds to the stage of final disposal in an ordinary litigation is only a stage in the proceedings
There is no formal declared termination of the proceedings
The lowering of locus standi threshold does not involve the recognition or creation of any vested rights on the part of those who initiate the proceeding analogus to Dominus Litis652H653A 3
Unduly harsh and coercive measures against the states and the authorities might themselves become counter productive
In the matter of affirmative action the willing cooperation of the authorities must as far as possible be explored
If the proceedings are allowed to be diverted at every stage into punitive proceedings for non compliancethe main concern and purposes of the proceedings might tend to be over shadowed by its incidental ramifications
The coercive action would of course have to be initiated if persuasion fails
660C D In the instant case the Court s orders dated 15486 12786
5996 13886 and 211186 show that certain PG NO 646 important and far reaching actions were initiated and appropriate directions were issued to the States and authorities concerned
The first ground therefore does not justify the withdrawal of this public interest Litigation
If the Court acknowledges any such status of a Dominus Litis to a person who brings a public interest litigation it will render the proceedings in public interest litigations vulnerable to and susceptible of a new dimension which might in conceivable cases be used by persons for personal ends resulting in prejudice to the public weal
653F G662H 663A B 4i The concept of public accountability of the judicial system is indeed a matter of vital public concern for debate and evaluation at a different plane
But for that reason courts of law in their actual day to day judicial work cannot allow the incantations and professions of these principles to enable parties to judicial adjudications to constitute themselves the overseers of the judicial performance and accountability in the individual case in which they are immediately concerned and permit themselves comments and criticism of the judicial work in the particular case
661FG H662A 4ii While comments and criticisms of judicial functioning on matters of principle are healthy aids for interspersion and improvement the criticism of the functioning of the Court in the course of and in relation to a particular proceeding by the parties to it borders on a conduct intended or tending to impair the dignity authority and the functional disposition of the court
It is therefore thought important to maintain respect and dignity ot the courts and its officers whose task is to uphold and enforce the law because without such respect public faith in the administration of justice would be undermined and the law itself would fall into disrespect
662B C 4iii This is not to deny the broader right to criticise the systemic inadequacies in the larger public interest
It is the privileged right of the Indian citizen to believe what he considers to be true and to speak out his mind though not perhaps always with the best of testes and speak perhaps with greater courage then care for exactitude
Judiciary is not exempt from such criticism
Judicial institutions are
and should be made of stronger stuff  intended to endure and thrive even in such hardy climate
662F G In the instant case there is no justification to the resort to this freedom and privilege to criticise the proceedings during their pendency by persons who are parties and participants therein
662G H PG NO 647 5i Even the humblest citizen of the land irrespective of his station in life is entitled to present his case with dignity and is entitled to be heard with courtesy and sympathy Courts are meant for and are sustained by the people and no litigant can be allowed to be looked upon as a supplicant or an importuner
663C D 5ii The parties who seek justice at the hands of the court are neither its subordinates or subsidiaries
But the notion of an equal participation in its practical applications presents difficulties and cannot be stretched to the point where the court could share the responsibility and the powers that go with it of regulating the proceedings of the court with any of the parties before it
In the existing system
the parties who seek recourse to courts have to submit themselves to the jurisdiction and discipline of the court
Their conduct in relation to the proceedings
is liable to be regulated by the court
This is not a matter of expression or assertion of any superiority but is merely a necessity and a functional imperative 666B C In the instant case keeping in view the facts and circumstances or the case the second ground of withdrawal is wholly insubstantial and proceeds on what appear to be certain subjective susceptibilities of the applicant which to the extent they are irreconcilable with the discipline of the court cannot be countenanced
666D 6i The contention that applicant is entitled to sustain her right to be the petitioner in person in a public interest litigation and that the proceedings cannot be proceeded with after de linking her from the proceedings cannot be accepted
Any recognition of any such vested right in the persons who initiate such proceedings is to introduce a new and potentially harmful element in the judicial administration of this form of public law remedy
That apart what is implicit in the assertion of the applicant is the appropriation to herself of the right and wisdom to determine the course the proceedings are to or should take and its pattern
This cannot be recognised
666E G 6ii No litigant can be permitted to stipulate conditions with the court for the continuance of his or her participation
667A 7
The initiation of a public interest litigation or proceedings for issue of a writ of Habeas Corpus on the basis of letters reflects and symbolises the Court s anxiety to relax the rigour of formal pleadings
However in proceedings which are already initiated and are pending it world be inappropriate for a party to the proceedings to address letters directly to the Judges
What is sought to be PG NO 648 brought to the notice of the Court shouldas far as possible be filed in the Registry for being placed before the appropriate bench or submitted in the open court
There might be extra ordinary circumstances when a party is compelled to resort to the expedience of a letter or a telegram
Even in such a case it would be appropriate to address them to the Registry to be placed before the appropriate bench
The difficulties arising out of such direct communications are too obvious to require any elaborate discussion 664E G