ition No 1337 of 1979
Under article 32 of the Constitution of India
VM Tarkunde PH Parekh and Hemant Sharma for the Petitioner
Abdul Khader Girish Chandra and Miss A Subhashini for the Respondents
The Order of the Court was delivered by KOSHAL J The short question which falls for determination in this petition under article 32 of the Constitution of India praying for the issuance of appropriate writs quashing the letter dated 16th of March 1979 by which the representation made by the petitioner against the seniority assigned to him in the cadre of Income tax Officers Class I was rejected and he was informed that the seniority list forming an appendix to Annexure l  had been correctly framed in accordance with the rules then in force
The answer to the question posed by the petition has to be answered with reference to Rules 4 6 and 8 of the Released Emergency Commissioned Officers  Short Service Commissioned Officers Reservation of Vacancies Rules 1971 hereinafter called the Rules
The relevant part of Rule 41 reads thus 41 Twenty percent of the vacancies in the Indian Foreign Service and 25 percent of the vacancies in all the Central Civil Services and posts Class I to which these rules apply    40 shall be reserved for being filled by the Emergency Commissioned Officers and the Short Service Commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces of the Union who were commissioned after the 1st November 1962 but before the 10th January 1968 and who i         ii in the case of Short Service Commissioned Officers are released on the expiry of the tenure of their service or iii        
Rule 6 in so far as it is relevant for our purpose provides 61          2 Seniority inter se of candidates who are appointed against the vacancies reserved under sub rule 1 of rule 4 and allotted to a particular year shall be determined according to the merit list prepared by the Commission on the basis of the results of their performance at the examination or test or interview
3 All candidates who have been appointed against the vacancies reserved under sub rule 1 of rule 4 shall rank below the candidates who were appointed against unreserved vacancies in the services of posts through the competitive examination or test or interview conducted by the Commission corresponding to the year to which the former candidates are allotted
It is not disputed that the petitioner is an officer who is entitled to the benefit of reservation under the above abstracted portion of Rule 41 and to have his seniority accordance with sub rule 3 of Rule 6
As we read the sub rule last mentioned we do not find it to be ambiguous in any manner whatsoever
It lays down in clear terms that the officers appointed against vacancies reserved under sub rule 1 of Rule 4 shall rank below candidates who were appointed against unreserved vacancies in the services concerned through a competitive examination etc
Respondents Nos 2 to 14 who have been placed in the impugned seniority list above the petitioner were appointed to the cadre of Income tax Officers Class I through a competitive examination or test as envisaged by sub rule3 of Rule 6
Now if they were appointed against unreserved vacancies they are entitled to rank above the petitioner but not otherwise
41 It is conceded before us that respondents Nos 2 to 14 have been appointed against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Clearly therefore they must rank below the petitioner inasmuch as it cannot be said with any plausibility that they were appointed against unreserved vacancies
Mr Abdul Khader appearing for the Union of India has contested the interpretation just above placed by us on sub rule 3 of Rule 6
According to him that interpretation makes the sub rule retrospective in operation which it is not
We agree that the sub rule is intended to be prospective only and that the above interpretation would be operative only after the date on which the sub rule was promulgated and not before that
But then that means that every seniority list prepared after the date of the promulgation of the sub rule would be governed by it
Similarly every promotion made and every question relating to seniority cropping up after the date of the promulgation of the sub rule which is 28th August 1971 shall be determined according to that sub rule
No question of retrospectivity of the sub rule is thus involved
Of course the inter se seniority of officers of the cadre prevailing upto 28th August 1971 had to be determined under the rules as they existed before that date and any promotions made earlier to that date would continue to be good if made in accordance with those rules
However the position changed with the promulgation of the Rules and any promotion made thereafter has to conform to them
Faced with the above situation Mr Abdul Khader argued that the word unreserved  in sub rule 3 of Rule 6 would embrace the vacancies reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who had joined the cadre through open competition etc because the sub rule meant to take within its ambit all such persons who had been recruited in that manner
The logic of the argument is not clear to us because it makes the whole sub rule meaningless
If the argument were to be accepted the use of the word unreserved  would be wholly uncalled for and we just cannot hold that the word is redundant forms part as it does of subordinate legislation
The word unreserved  can obviously not be equated with its antonym that is reserved  and has to be applied only to vacancies which do not fall within the reserved categories
Mr Abdul Khader took another point and that was to the effect that the rules of the service in question had been amended 42 earlier to 1971 so as to place candidates covered by Rule 41 below those who had been appointed to reserved vacancies through a competitive examination
That may well have been so but then that makes no difference to the interpretation which is given above to sub rule 3 of Rule 6
Rule 8 of the Rules declares in no uncertain terms that all rules regulating the recruitment of persons to Central Civil Services and Posts Class I to which the Rules apply shall be deemed to have been amended to the extent provided for in the Rules
If the rules regulating the seniority of the petitioner and respondents Nos 2 to 14 were so amended earlier to 1971 as to assign to the petitioner seniority below respondents Nos 2 to 14 the situation would be wholly irrelevant to the present dispute because after the amendment brought about Rule 8 of the Rules the members of the service to which the contested parties belong have to be governed by the amendment of which sub rule 3 of Rule 6 forms a part
This is the inescapable consequence flowing from Rule 8 of the Rules
We may take note here of the only other argument raised by Mr Abdul Khader and that is that Rule 8 regulates only the recruitment of persons to Central Civil Services and Posts Class I and not to their conditions of service
We do not find any substance in this argument either
The word recruitment  is comprehensive enough to embrace the content of all the rules preceding Rule 8 including the fitment of candidates recruited to the service vis a vis each other
In the result we accept the petition quash the seniority list abovementioned as well as the letter by which the representation there against made by the petitioner was rejected and direct respondent No 1 to re frame the seniority list assigning the petitioner seniority in accordance with law as explained above
There will be no order as to costs
N K A Petition allowed


Summary:
Respondents Nos 2 to 14 were appointed to the cadre of Income tax Officers Class I against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Caste and Schedules Tribes as a result of a competitive examination or test as envisaged by sub rule 3 of Rule 6
The Petitioner was similarly appointed to the same cadre but against a vacancy reserved under sub rule 1 of Rule 4 for certain officers of the Armed Forces of the Union
He was placed in the impugned seniority list below respondents Nos 2 to 14
He made a representation against the seniority assigned to him on the ground that under sub rule 3 of Rule 6 he was entitled to rank immediately below candidates appointed against unreserved vacancies
The representation was rejected by a letter dated 16th March 1979
The petitioner filed a petition under article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking the issuance of a writ quashing that letter
At the hearing it was not disputed that the petitioner was entitled to the benefit of reservation sub rule 1 of Rule 4 and to have his seniority determined in accordance with sub rule 3 of Rule 6
However it was contended on behalf of the respondents Nos 2 to 14 inter alia that the rules of the service had been amended earlier to 1971 so as to place candidates covered by sub rule 1 of Rule 4 below those who had been appointed against reserved vacancies through a competitive examination
Accepting the petition it was  HELD 1 Sub rule 3 of Rule 6 is not ambiguous in any manner whatsoever and lays down in clear terms that the officers appointed against vacancies reserved under sub rule 1 of Rule 4 shall rank below candidates who were appointed against unreserved vacancies in the Services concerned through a competitive examination etc
40 F G 2
Respondents Nos 2 to 14 have been appointed against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes
Clearly therefore they must rank below the petitioner inasmuch as it cannot be said with any plausibility that they were appointed against unreserved vacancies
41 A B 3
The argument that the rules of the service in question had been amended to 1971 so as to place candidates governed by Rule 41 below those who had been appointed to reserved vacancies through a competitive examination has no substance and makes no difference to the interpretation which is given above to 39 sub rule 3 of Rule 6 Rule 8 of the Rules declares in no uncertain terms that all rules regulating the recruitment of persons to Central Civil Services and Posts Class I to which the Rules apply shall be deemed to have been amended to the extent provided for in the Rules
Although the rules regulating the seniority of the petitioners and respondents Nos 2 to 14 were so amended earlier to 1971 as to assign to the petitioner seniority below respondents Nos 2 to 14 the situation is wholly irrelevant to the present dispute because after the amendment brought about by Rule 8 of the Rules the members of the service to which the contenting parties belong have to be governed by the later amendment of which sub rule 3 of Rule 6 forms a part
This is the inescapable consequence flowing from Rule 8 of the Rules
41 G H 42 A D 4
The word recruitment  is comprehensive enough to embrace the content of all the rules proceeding Rule 8 including the fitment of candidates recruited to the service vis a vis each other
42 D E