on rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 which provided that sons and near relatives of person who have done good service in the Punjab Police or in the Army shall subject to the consideration imposed by rule 1212 have preference over the other candi dates for police employment
Under rule 30 of the Rules any relaxation should be made by the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi and not by the Deputy Commissioner of Police
Thus no reliance can be placed on the order of relaxation passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police on 3101981 and since by the letter dated April 3 1982 the Delhi Administration had imposed an additional condition in respect of the wards of Delhi 53 PolicemenClass IV employees that only one son of police personnel Class IV employee would be considered for gram of such relaxation the appellants cannot claim that they were entitled to be recruited because admittedly their brothers had already been recruited in the Delhi Police service on the basis of an earlier order of relaxation
63C F  CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeal No 2547 of 1985
From the Judgment and Order dated 1551984 of the Delhi High Court in LPA No 157 of 1983 SAK Dar and PD Sharma for the Appellants
Anand Prakash ND Garg Miss Sushma Relan for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATARAMIAH J
The above appeal by special leave arises out of a writ petition filed by the appellants in the High Court of Delhi for the issue of a direction to the Delhi Administration to appoint them as police Constables
Prior to the coming into force of the Act No 34 of 1978 hereinafter referred to as the Act  with effect from the 1st day of July 1978 there was in force in the Union territory of Delhi the 
On the commencement of the Act the  186 1 ceased to be in force in Delhi by virtue of section 149 of the Act
The first proviso to section 1491 of the Act however provided that all rules and standing orders in cluding the Punjab Police Rules as in force in Delhi made under the would be in solar as they were consistent with the Act be deemed to have been respectively made under the Act
Accordingly the Punjab Police Rules 1934 as in force in Delhi which had been enacted under the continued to be in force even after the commencement of the Act
Chapter 12 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 contained the rules relating to the appointments and enrolments of Assistant Superintendents of Police Deputy Superintendents of Police Inspectors Sergeants Assistant Sub Inspectors Range Auditors Head Constables and Constables
Recruitment to the cadre of Constables was done under rules 1212 to 1222 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934
Rules 1214 and 1215 dealt with the status of the recruits 54 the qualifications age and the physicial standards which the recruits had to satisfy
Rules 1214 and 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 read as follows 1214
Recruits Status of
1 Recruits shall be of good character and great care shall be taken in selecting men of a type suitable for police service from candidates present ing themselves for enrolment
2 The enlistment in the police of Gurkhas of Nepalese nationality is absolutely forbidden
The enlistment of Gurkhas who can prove British nationality or continuous domicile is permitted but only with the formal sanction of the Deputy Inspector General
Before giving sanction the Deputy Inspector General should verify the nationality of the proposed recruit by a reference to the recruiting Offi cer for Gurkhas
3 Sons and near relatives of persons who have done good service in the Punjab Police or in the Army shall subject to the consideration imposed by rule 1212 have preference over the other candidates for police employment
1215
Recruits age and physical standards of
1 Recruits shall be not more than 25 or less than 18 years of age at the time of enrolment and shall have a minimum height of 5  7 and normal chest measurement of 33 with expansion of 112 inches
Thesephysical standards shall not be relaxed without the general or special sanction of the Deputy Inspector General
A general reduction of the stand ard may be allowed by Deputy Inspectors General in the case of special castes or classes which provide desirable re cruits but whose general height does not come up to that prescribed
In such cases a standard of chest measurement and general physique shall be fixed which will permit the enlistment of strong and well proportioned youths of the class in question
2 The greatest care shall be taken to ensure that the age of every police officer is correctly recorded at the time of his enrolment and appointment
The record then made becomes of utmost importance when the question arises of 55 an officer s fight to pension and is accepted as decisive in the absence of full proof both that the original entry was wrong and that the date of birth originally given was due to a bona fide mistake
A copy of this rule shall be pasted inside the cover of the recruit register form 1213 and the attention of the Civil Surgeon shall be drawn to it
 Section 147 of the Act authorises the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the Act
Clause a of section 147 2 of the Act expressly states that such rules may provide for recruitment to and the pay allowances and all other conditions of service of the members of the Delhi police under clause b of section 5
In exercise of the said power the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi promulgated the Delhi Police Appoint ment and Recruitment Rules 1980 hereinafter referred to as the Rules providing for the appointments of Inspec tors Sub Inspectors Assistant Sub Inspectors Head Consta bles and Constables
Rule 9 of the Rules laid down the procedure for the recruitment of the Constables
The said rule as it was originally promulgated read as follows 9
Recruitment of Constables
Delhi being a cosmopolitan city it is imperative to attract candidates from all parts of the country
ii The recruitment of constables shall be done twice a year in the months of January and July by the Board to be nominated by Commissioner of Police as per rule 8
iii The Commissioner of Police may also order special recruitment at any time if there are sufficient number of vacancies and the panels prepared earlier have exhausted
iv A panel shall be drawn up of selected candi dates on the basis of existing and anticipated vacancies
This panel shall be valid till the next recruitment is held
v Physical educational age and other standards for recruitment to the rank of constables shall be as under 56 a Age 18 21 years Relaxable by 5 years for i Scheduled CasteScheduled Tribes candidates ii Sportsmen of distinction
iii Ex servicemens per rule 28 of these rules
b Height 170 Centi Relaxable by 4 centimeters meters for residents of Hill area eg Gurkhas Garwalis
c Chest 170 Centi Relaxable by 2 centimeters meters for residents of hill areas
d Educa Matric Relaxable up to 9th pass tional Higher only for Qualifi Secondary i Bandsmen buglers cation 10th of mounted Constables drivers 10 plus 2 despatch riders etc
ii for sons of police personnel who die in service
ePhysical Sound state No relaxation permissible
standard of health free from defect deformity disease vision 612 without glasses both eyes free from colour blindness
f Reserva i For Scheduled Castes tion of Scheduled Tribes Ex service vacancies men etc
as per orders issued by Government from time to time
ii For sons of police personnel not more than 5  of vacancies
57 vi The Commissioner of Police shall frame stand ing orders prescribing application forms and detailed proce dure to be followed for conducting physical efficiency physical measurement written tests and viva voce for regu lating the above mentioned recruitment
The Rules were amended by the Administrator Lt Gover nor of the Union territory of Delhi on May 2 1983 and one of the amendments made on that occasion was the addition of rule 32 to the Rules
The new rule 32 of the Rules read as follows All provisions contained in the Punjab Police Rules as applicable to the Union territory of Delhi relating to appointments and recruitment of employees are hereby re pealed subject to the provisions as contained in the provi sos to sub section 1 and 2 of section 149 of the 
 The Rules were again amended in 1985
On that occasion rule 9 of the Rules which provided for the recruitment of the Constables was amended but we are not concerned with these amendments made in the year 1985 since we are con cerned in this case with the rules which were in force prior to the above said amendment
Rule 30 of the Rules which is relevant for purposes of this case reads as follows 30 Power to relax
When the Administrator is of the opinion that it is necessary or expedient so to do he may by order for reasons to be recorded in writing relax any of the provisions of these Rules with respect to any class category or persons or posts or in an individual case
 As stated at the commencement this appeal arises out of the writ petition bearing No CW P
No 1891 of 1982 on the file of the High Court of Delhi filed under Article 226 of the Constitution
The said writ petition was filed by 23 petitioners who were applicants for the posts of Constables in the Delhi Police Force governed by the Act
They prayed for the issue of a writ to the Delhi Administration to appoint them as Constables and for other consequential reliefs
None of them was fully qualified to be recruited as a Constable under the Rules
But being the sons of Delhi policemen they depended upon an order date 3101981 passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police Headquarters I Delhi under which he had relaxed the rules relating 58 to the qualifications in favour of the sons or wards of Delhi policemen
The relevant part of the said order dated 3101981 reads thus The wards of Delhi policemen should be given the following concessions in age educational qualifications and physical standards etc for recruitment as Constables in Delhi Police 1
Age Upto 25 years 2
Educational 9th Pass Qualifications 3
Height 5  5 4
Chest 2 Relaxation
All those wards of Delhi Police Personnel who conform to the qualifications laid down above should be  allowed to appear in the physical and written tests
Their forms should be accepted as it was being done before the introduction of New Rules
The last date for acceptance of forms may be enhanced from 3rd Oct 1981 to 15th October 1981 and forms should be sold during holidays also
sd AK Aggarwal Deputy Commissioner of Police HQ 1 Delhi No 19512 45SIP dated Delhi the 3 10 81
 The appellants were eligible to be considered for the appointment as Constables in the light of the order of relaxation referred to above but even then they were not sent up for training which they had to undergo before the appointment because six of them were found to be ineligible since their brothers had already been recruited in the Police Department by relaxing the rules of appointment in their favour
15 of them were refused permission to join the training course on the ground that the Administrator Lt Governor of Union territory of Delhi had not relaxed the qualifications in their cases
Two of them however had in fact received a letter stating that the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi had accorded sanction for relaxation for recruitment in their cases and they could join the training course with effect from 1561982 but later on they 59 were also denied admission into the Police force because their brothers had been recruited earlier the Delhi Police service after according relaxation
The order of relaxation in their favour had therefore been withdrawn
The appel lants who were thus aggrieved by the denial of admission into the service preferred the above mentioned writ petition in the High Court for the issue of writ of mandamus to the Delhi Administration to appoint them as Constables on the ground that they satisfied the qualifications prescribed by the rules read with the order of relaxation dated 3101981 referred to above
The petition was resisted by the Delhi Administration
It was contended on behalf of the Delhi Administration that the order of relaxation which had been passed on 3101981 was not a valid one because i it had been passed on the assumption that rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 was in force on the date on which it was passed but in fact the said rule stood repealed on the coming into force of the Rules on 31121980 framed under section 147 of the Act and ii under rule 30 of the Rules relaxation of quali fications could be made by the Administrator Lt Governor not by the Deputy Commissioner of Police
The Delhi Adminis tration further alleged that Standing Order No 2 12 of 198 1 had been issued in connection with the recruitment of Constables in Delhi Police and clause 10 of the said Stand ing Order No 212 read as follows 10
RELAXATION i No relaxation in qualificationsstandards mentioned in this Standing Order shall be given except in the cases and manner as laid down in the Delhi Police Appointment and Recruitment Rules 1980
iii Children of Police officers of subordinate rank serv ing or those who die in office will be granted 5 marks in the written test as bonus
Relaxation in other standards will not be given excepting with the sanction of competent authority   Standing Order No 212 of 1981 referred to above was further amended as follows The wards of the Delhi Policemen will however be given 60 the following concessions in age educational qualifications and physical standards to enable them to take the physical and written tests 1 Age Upto 25 years 2 Educational 9th Pass Qualification 3 Height 5  5 4 Chest 2 inches relaxation However their enlistment would be done only in case of relaxation being granted by the competent authority and mere fact that a candidate has qualified in the test will not in itself give him a right to enlistment
 The Delhi Administration however agreed to grant relaxation to the wards of Delhi PolicemenClass IV employ ees only upto the limit of 712 of the total selection
Accordingly the Police authorities in charge of the selec tion of candidates recommended cases of 259 candidates out of a total of 420 candidates who came within the category of wards of PolicemenClass IV employees within the limit of 712  of the total selection to the Delhi Administration for seeking approval of the competent authority on the basis of the following criteria i Only one son of police personnelclass IV employee to be considered for grant of such relaxation
ii First preference to be given to wards of deceased retired and incapacitated policemen and class IV employees
iii Selection of the remaining candidates to be done in order of merit in the tests within the maximum permissible limit of 7 112 provided that they do not need relaxation in more than two standards
iv With regard to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates who are the wards of Delhi Police person nel the lowering of the limit of qualifying percentage would also be applicable in addition
61 The aforesaid recommendations having been accepted by the competent authority the police authorities allowed the candidates whose cases were covered by the above criteria and the fixed percentage of 712 of such appointment to join the training course
Since the case of the appellants were not covered by the above criteria they were treated as being not eligible to be appointed as Constables
After hearing the learned counsel for both the parties the learned Single Judge who heard the writ petition allowed it by his judgment dated July 21 1983
He held that the Punjab Police Rules 1934 continued to remain in force even after the promulgation of the Rules which came into force on 3112
1980 and the cases of the appellants were protected by the relaxation order dated 3101981 issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the fact that any of the brothers of the appellants had been appointed earlier under the cover of similar order of relaxation did not disentitle the appel lants to claim the benefit of the order of relaxation
The learned Judge was therefore of the view that the appel lants were entitled to be appointed as Constables
Since two of the appellants had already been sent for training under the two letters of relaxation issued in their favour the learned Judge issued a writ directing the Delhi Administra tion to send the remaining 21 candidates also for training and to appoint them as Constables after the completion of their training
Aggrieved by the decision of the learned Single Judge the Union of India and the Delhi Administration filed an appeal before the Division Bench of the High Court in Let ters Patent Appeal No 157 of 1983
The Division Bench held that on the promulgation of the Rules with effect from 31121980 rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 which dealt with the subject of appointment of Constables stood repealed
It further held that under rule 30 of the Rules the power to relax the Rules in appropriate cases having been vested with the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi the order of relaxation issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police on 3101981 did not give any right to the appellants for enlishment as Consta bles unless relaxation was granted by the competent authori ty ie the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union terri tory of Delhi and the mere fact that a candidate was suc cessful in the test by itself would not give him a right to enlistment
The Court further held that since by its letter dated April 3 1982 the Delhi Administration had decided that only one son of a police officer would be considered for grant of such relaxation the appellants whose brothers had already been employed in the police service on the basis of an earlier order of 62 relaxation were not entitled to be recruited by relaxing the Rules once again
Accordingly the judgment of the learned Single Judge was set aside by the Division Bench and the writ petition filed by the petitioners therein was dis missed
Aggrieved by the decision of the Division Bench the appellants filed this appeal by special leave
The first point which requires to be considered is whether the Punjab Police Rules 1934 in so far as they related to the recruitment to the post of Constables was concerned were in force after the promulgation of the Rules on 31121980
It is urged on behalf of the appellants that since rule 32 which provided that all provisions contained in the Punjab Police Rules as applicable to the Union terri tory of Delhi relating to the appointments and recruitment of employees are hereby repealed subject to the provisions as contained in the provisos to sub sections 1 and 2 of section 149 of the  had been intro duced by an amendment of the Rules on May 2 1983 it must be presumed that the Punjab Police Rules 1934 in so far as they related to the recruitment and appointment of Consta bles remained in force till May 2 1983
The contention of the Delhi Administration is that the said rule had been introduced by way of abundant caution although in fact the Punjab Police Rules 1934 had ceased to be in force on 31121980 and the mere addition of rule 32 did not have the effect of keeping the relevant Punjab Police Rules 1934 alive after December 31 1980
We are of the view that the Division Bench was right in accepting the plea urged on behalf of the Delhi Administration in this regard
Section 1492 of the Act no doubt provided that the rules framed under the of 1861 would continue to be in force after the Act came into force in so far as they were con sistent with the Act but at the same time section 147 of the Act authorised the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi to make rules regarding recruitment to and the pay allowances and all other conditions of service of the members of the Delhi Police under clause b of section 5
It is not disputed that rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 and the rules promulgated on December 311980 dealt with the identical subject name ly the appointment and recruitment of Constables to the Delhi police service
Therefore on the promulgation of the Rules on December 31 1980 which covered the subject dealt with by rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 had the effect of repealing by necessary impli cation rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 even though initially there was no express 63 provision in the Rules to the effect that rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 stood repealed with effect from December 31 1980
It is well settled that when a competent authority makes a new law which is totally inconsistent with the earlier law and that the two cannot stand together any longer it must be construed that the earlier law had been repealed by necessary implication by the later law
Applying the above test it has to be held in this case that rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 stood repealed with effect from December 31 1980 and rule 32 of the Rules which was introduced by way of amendment on May 2 1983 had not the effect reviving rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 and keeping them alive beyond December 31 1980 upto May 2 1983
When once this conclusion is reached it follows that the appellants cannot rely upon rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 which provided that sons and near rela tives of person who have done good service in the Punjab Police or in the Army shall subject to the consideration imposed by rule 1212 have preference over the other candi dates for police employment
Under rule 30 of the Rules any relaxation should be made by the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi and not by the Deputy Commissioner of Police
Thus no reliance can be placed on the order of relaxation passed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police on 3101981 and since by the letter dated April 3 1982 the Delhi Administration had imposed an additional condition in respect of the wards of Delhi PolicemenClass IV employees that only one son of police personnelClass IV employees would be considered for grant of such relaxation the appellants cannot claim that they were entitled to be recruited because admittedly their brothers had already been recruited in the Delhi Police service on the basis of an earlier order of relaxation
The appellants have not there fore made out any case in support of their plea
We should however point out at this stage a fundamen tal defect in the claim of the appellants namely that rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 which authorised the granting of preference in favour of sons and near rela tives of persons serving in the police service became uncon stitutional on the coming into force of the Constitution
Clauses 1 and 2 of Article 16 of the Constitution which are material for this case read thus 16
1 There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or ap pointment to any office under the State
64 2 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
 While it may be permissible to appoint a person who is the son of a police officer who dies in service or who is incapacitated while rendering service in the Police Depart ment a provision which confers a preferential fight to appointment on the children or wards or other relatives of the police officers either in service or retired merely because they happen to be children or wards or other rela tives of such police officers would be contrary to Article 16 of the Constitution
Opportunity to get into public service should be extended to all the citizens equally and should not be confined to any extent to the descendants or relatives of a person already in the service of the State or who has retired from the service
In Gazula Dasaratha Rama Rao vs The State of Andhra Pradesh  Others  the question relating to the constitutional validity of section 61 of the Madras Hereditary Village Offices Act 1895 3 of 1895 came up for consideration before this Court
That section provided that where two or more villages or portions thereof were grouped together or amalgamated so as to form a single new village or where any village was divided into two or more villages all the village officers of the class defined in section 3 clause 1 of that Act in the villages or portions of the villages or village amalga mated or divided as aforesaid would cease to exist and the new offices which were created for the new village or vil lages should be filled up by the Collector by selecting the persons whom he considered best qualified from among the families of the last holders of the offices which had been abolished
This Court held that the said provision which required the Collector to fill up the said new offices by selecting persons from among the families of the last hold ers of the offices was opposed to Article 16 of the Consti tution
The Court observed in that connection at pages 940 941 and 946 947 thus Article 14 enshrines the fundamental fight of equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India
It is available to all irrespective of whether the person claiming it is a citizen or not
Article 15 prohibits discrimination on some special grounds religion race caste sex place of birth or any of them
It is available to citizens only but is not re stricted to any employment or office under the State
Arti cle 16 cl
1 guarantees equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters 65 relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State and cl
2 prohibits discrimination on certain grounds in respect of any such employment or appointment
It would thus appear that article 14 guarantees the general right of equality articles 15 and 16 are instances of the same right in favour of citizens in some special circumstances
Arti cles 15 is more general than article 16 the latter being confined to matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State
It is also worthy of note that article 15 does not mention descent  as one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination whareas article 16 does
We do not see any reason why the full ambit of the fundamental right guaranteed by article 16 in the matter of employment or ap pointment to any office under the State should be cut down by a reference to the provisions in Part XIV of the Consti tution which relate to Services or to provisions in the earlier Constitution Acts relating to the same subject               Pages 940 941
There can be no doubt that s61 of the Act does embody a principle of discrimination on the ground of de scent only
It says that in choosing the person to fill the new offices the Collector shall select the persons whom he may consider the best qualified from among the families of the last holders of the offices which have been abolished
This in our opinion is discrimination on the ground of descent only and is in contravention of article 162 of the Constitution Pages 946 947
We are of opinion that the claim made by the appellants for the relaxation of the Rules in their cases only because they happen to be the wards or children or relatives of the police officers has got to be negatived since their claim is based on descent  only and others will thereby be discrim inated against as they do not happen to be the sons of police officers
Any preference shown in the matter of public employment on the grounds of descent only has to be declared as unconstitutional
The appellants have not shown that they were otherwise eligible to be recruited as Consta bles in the absence of the order of relaxation on which they relied
Hence they cannot succeed
66 We however make it clear that this judgment shall not affect the appointments of sons or wards of police officers already made by relaxing the Rules and they shall remain undisturbed
In the result the appeal fails and it is dismissed
There shall however be no order as to costs
SR Appeal dis missed


Summary:
Delhi Police Appointment and Recruitment Rules 1980 Whether supersedes the earlier Punjab Police Rules 1934 though it is deemed to be in force by virtue of section 1492 of the Delhi Police Act 1978 Construction of a New law  sections 147 and 149 Scope and effect of explained Rules 30 and 32 of the 1980 Police Rules
The Act 3478 which came into force with effect from 17 1978 by virtue of section 149 thereof repealed the earlier Act of 1861
However the first proviso to section 1491 provided that all rules and stand ing Orders including the Punjab Police Rules as in force in Delhi made under the would be in so far as they were consistent with the Act may be deemed to have been respectively made under the Act
Consequently the said 1934 Rules continued to be in force even after the commence ment of the Act
By virtue of the authority vested under section 1472a of the 1978 Act the Lt Governor of Delhi promulgated the Delhi Police Appointment and Recruitment Rules 1980
The said Rules which came into effect from 311280 were amended twice in 1983 and 1985
By the newly added Rule 32 on 2583 all provisions contained in the Punjab Police Rules as applicable to the Union Territory of Delhi were repealed
While under the earlier Rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules sons and near relatives of persons who have done good service in Punjab Police or in the Army had preference in recruitment under the new Rule 9vidii relaxation of the age limit alone was provided for for sons of police personnel who die in service
Despite this Rule position the Deputy Commissioner of Police Headquarters I Delhi by his order dt3 1081 relaxed the rules relating to the qualifications in favour of the sons or wards of Delhi 50 Policemen upto the limit of 712 of the total selection
Accordingly the police authorities in charge of the selec tion of candidates recommended 259 candidates out of a total of 420 candidates who came within the category of wards of PolicemenClass IV employees to the Delhi Administration for seeking approval of the competent authority
All the 23 appellants were eligible to be considered for the appointment as Constables in the light of the order of relaxation dated 31081 but even they were not sent up for training which they had to undergo before the appointment because six of them were found to be ineligible since their brothers had already been recruited in the Police Department by relaxing the rules of appointment in their favour
15 of them were refused permission to join the training course on the ground that the Administrator Lt Governor of Union territory of Delhi had not relaxed the qualifications in their cases
Two of them however had in fact received a letter stating that the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi had accorded sanction for relaxa tion for recruitment in their cases and they could join the training course with effect from 156 1982 but later on they were also denied admission into the Police force be cause their brothers had been recruited earlier in the Delhi Police service after according relaxation
The order of relaxation in their favour had therefore been withdrawn
The appellants who were thus aggrieved by the denial of admission into the service preferred the writ petition in the High Court for the issue of writ of mandamus to the Delhi Administration to appoint them as Constables on the ground that they satisfied the qualifications prescribed by the rules read with the order of relaxation dated 3101981
A learned Single Judge of the Delhi High Court allowed the writ petition and held that the Punjab Police Rules 1934 continued to remain in force even after the promulga tion of the Rules which came into force on 31121980 and the cases of the appellants were protected by the relaxation order dated 3101981 issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the fact that any of the brothers of the appel lants had been appointed earlier under the cover of similar order of relaxation did not disentitle the appellants to claim the benefit of the order of relaxation
Aggrieved by the said decision the Union of India and the Delhi Administration flied a Letters Patent Appeal
The appeal was allowed holding a that on the promulgation of the Rules with effect from 31121980 rule 12143 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 which dealt with the subject of appointment of Constables stood repealed b that under Rule 30 of the Rules the power to relax the Rules in appro priate 51 cases having been vested with the Administrator
Lt Gover nor of the Union territory of Delhi the order of relaxation issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police on 3101981 did not give any right to the appellants for enlistment as Constables unless relaxation was granted by the competent authority ie the Administrator Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi and the mere fact that a candidate was successful in the test by itself would not give him a right to enlistment c that since by its letter dated April 3 1982 the Delhi Administration had decided that only one son of a police officer would be considered for grant of such relaxation the appellants whose brothers had already been employed in the police service on the basis of an earlier order of relaxation were not entitled to be recruited by relaxing the Rules once again
Hence the appeal by special leave
Dismissing the appeal the Court HELD 1 1 The claim made by the appellants for the relaxation of the Rules in their cases only because they happen to be the wards or children or relatives of the police officers has got to be negatived since their claim is based on descent  only and others will thereby be discrimi nated against as they do not happen to be the sons of police officers
Any preference shown in the matter of public employment on the ground of descent only has to be declared as unconstitutional
65F G 12 While it may be permissible to appoint a person who is the son of a police officer who dies in service or who is incapacitated while rendering service in the Police Depart ment a provision which confers a preferential right to appointment on the children or wards or other relatives of the police officers either in service or retired merely because they happen to be the children or wards or other relatives of such police officers would be contrary to Article 16 of the Constitution
Opportunity to get into public service should be extended to all the citizens equal ly and should not be confined to any extent to the descend ants or relatives of a person already in the service of the State or who has retired from the service
64B D Gazula Dasaratha Rama Rao vs The State of Andhra Pradesh 21 It is well settled that when a competent authority makes a new law which is totally inconsistent with the earlier law and that the two cannot stand together any longer it must be construed that the earlier law had been repealed by necessary implication by the later law
Apply 52 ing the above test it has to be held in this case that rule 1214 and rule of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 stood re pealed with effect from December 31 1980 and rule 32 of the Rules which was introduced by way of amendment on May 2 1983 had not the effect reviving rule 1214 and rule 12 15 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 and Keeping them alive beyond December 31 1980 upto May 2 1983
63A C 22 Rule 32 of the Delhi Police Appointment and Re cruitment Rules 1980 had been introduced by way of abun dant caution although in fact the Punjab Police Rules 1934 ceased to be in force on 31
12 1980 and the mere addition of Rule 32 did not have the effect of keeping the 1934 Rules alive after 311280
62D E 23 Section 1492 of the no doubt provided that the rules framed under the of 1861 would continue to be in force after the Act came into force in so far as they were consistent with the Act but at the same time section 147 of the Act authorised the Administra tor Lt Governor of the Union territory of Delhi to make rules regarding recruitment to and the pay allowances and all other conditions of service of the members of the Delhi Police under clause b of section 5
It is not disputed that rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 and the rules promulgated on December 31 1980 dealt with the identical subject namely the appointment and recruitment of Constables to the Delhi Police service
Therefore on the promulgation of the Rules on December 31 1980 which covered the subject dealt with by rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 had the effect of repealing by necessary implication rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 even though initially there was no express provision in the Rules to the effect that rule 1214 and rule 1215 of the Punjab Police Rules 1934 stood repealed with effect from December 31 1980
62D H63A