ivil Appeal No 1009 of 1980
From the Judgment and Order dated 15180 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in LPA No 592 of 1975
PP Rao and Jitender Sharma for the appellants
Rajinder Sachhar Govind Mukhoty Dr Shankar Ghosh SC 474 Mohanta Mahabir Singh TC Sharma PP Singh SK Verma CM Nayyar and CVS Rao for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SINGH J
This appeal by special leave is directed against the order of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana dated 15th January 1980 quashing the Notification dated 3rd May 1973 issued by the State Government of Haryana promot ing the appellants to the Haryana Service of Engineers Class I post Public Health Branch
The facts giving rise to this appeal are that the appel lants SSh
JC Yadav BR Batra OP Juneja SL Cho pra MS Miglani CP Taneja Surjit Singh and VP Gulati and respondents Vyas Dev were members of the Haryana Service of Engineers Class II in the Public Health Branch
Members of the Class II service are eligible for promotion of Class I posts in accordance with the provisions of the Haryana Service of Engineers Class 1 Public Works Department Public Health Branch Rules 1961 hereinafter referred to as the Rules 
In 1971 the appellants were promoted to the post of Executive Engineers in the cadre of Class 1 on ad hoc basis while Vyas Dev respondent was not considered for promotion
He made representation but nothing came out in his favour
Later a Committee was constituted under Rule 8 for selecting suitable members of Class 12 service promotion to Class I post
The Committee considered the case of appellants and Vyas Dev respondent but it did not find the respondent suitable for promotion his name was not included in the select list prepared by the Committee while the names of the appellants were included therein
The Selection Committee s recommendation was approved by the Public Service Commission and it was forwarded to the State Government
Since the appellants did not possess the requisite minimum period of service of eight years  in Class II service as required by Rule 6b and as no other suitable candidates were avail able the Selection Committee made recommendation to the State Government for granting relaxation to the appellants
The Committee s recommendation was reiterated by the Public Service Commission
The State Government accepted the recom mendations and appointed the appellants to Class I service by the Notification dated May 3 1973
Vyas Dev respondent challenged validity of the appel lants  promotion by means for a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana on the ground that the appellants did not possess requisite qualification for promo 475 tion to Class I service therefore their promotions were contrary to Rules
His further grievance was that he was not considered along with the appellants for promotion and he was not afforded opportunity of hearing before he was super seded
A learned single Judge of the High Court dismissed the petition on the finding that the Selection Committee had considered the case of Vyas Dev along with the appellants for promotion but he was not found suitable
As regards the appellants  promotions the learned Judge held that since the State Government had relaxed Rule 6b in their favour their promotions were sustainable in law
The learned Judge fur ther held that no personal hearing was necessary to be afforded to Ved Vyas before his supersession
On appeal by the respondent a Division Bench of the High Court set aside the order of the single Judge and quashed the appellants promotions on the sole ground that the State Government had no authority in law to grant relaxation to the appellants under Rule 22 in a general manner as the power of relaxa tion could be exercised only in individual cases to mitigate hardship caused to an individual
On these findings the Division Bench set aside the appellants  promotions
The appointment and promotion to Class I Engineering Service in the State of Haryana are regulated by the Haryana Service of Engineers Class I PWD Public Health Branch Rules 1961
Initially these Rules had been framed by the Governor of Punjab before the formation of the Haryana State
There is no dispute that subsequently the State of Haryana had adopted these Rules and the recruitment to Class I service of Engineers in PWD Public Health Branch is regulated by the Haryana Service of Engineers Class I PWD Public Health Branch Rules 1961 as amended from time to time
Rule 5 provides for appointment to Class I service by direct appointment by transfer of an officer already in service of the State Government or of the Union Government or by promotion from Class II Service
Rule 6 prescribes qualifications for appointment to Class I service
The relevant provisions of the Rule are as under 6
Qualifications No person shall be appointed to the service unless he a possesses one of the University Degree or other qualifi cations prescribed in Appendix 8 of these rules Provided that Government may waive this qualification in the case of particular officer belonging to Class II Service 476 b in the case of an appointment by promotion from Class II Service has eight years completed Class II and has passed the professional examination of the department Rule 8 provides for constitution of the Committee for making selection for appointment to Class I service by promotion
The Committee is required to prepare a list of officers suitable for promotion on the basis of the criteria of merit and suitability with due regard to seniority
Rule 9 lays down field of eligibility as well as criteria for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer Superintending Engineer and Chief Engineer
Rule 15 provides for departmental exami nations according to this Rule the officers appointed to the Service Unless they have already done so shall pass such departmental examination and within such period as may be prescribed by the Government
The Rule confers power on the Government to prescribe for any other test in addition to the departmental examination for promotion or appointment to any rank in the service
Rule 22 confers power on the Government to relax any of the Rules as it may consider necessary
There is no dispute that none of the appellants had completed eight years  service in Class II service as required by Rule 6b and as such they were not eligible for promotion to the post of Executive Engineer
On the recom mendation of the Selection Committee and with the approval of the Public Service Commission the State Government re laxed the requirement of eight years  service so far as the appellants were concerned
Consequently the appellants were promoted and appointed as Executive Engineers under the Notification dated 3rd May 1973
The sole question for consideration is whether the relaxation granted by the State Government in favour of the appellants is valid
Rule 22 which confers power on the Government to relax requirement of Rules is as under Rule 22
Power to relax  
Where Government is satisfied that the operation of any of these Rules causes undue hardship to any particular case it may by order dispense with or relax the requirements of that Rule to such extent and subject to such conditions as it may consider necessary for dealing with the case in a just and equitable manner
477 The Rule confers power on the Government to dispense with or to relax the requirement of any of the Rules to the extent and with such conditions as it may consider necessary for dealing with the case in a just and equitable manner
The object and purpose of conferring this power on the Government is to mitigate undue hardship in any particular case and to deal with a case in a just and equitable man ner
If the Rules cause undue hardship or Rules operate in an inequitable manner in that event the State Government has power to dispense with or to relax the requirement of Rules
The Rule does not restrict the exercise of power to individ ual cases
The Government may in certain circumstances relax the requirement of Rules to meet a particular situation
The expression in any particular case does not mean that the relaxation should be confined only to an individual case
One of the meanings of the expression particular means peculiar or pertaining to a specified person thing time or place not common or general
The meaning of the word particular in relation to law means separate or special limited or specific
The word case  in ordinary usage means event  happening  situation  circumstances 
The expression case  in legal sense means a case  suit  or proceeding in Court or Tribunal 
Having regard to these meanings the expression in any particular case  would mean in a particular or pertaining to an event situation or circumstance
Rule 22 postulates relaxation of Rules to meet a particular event or situation if the operation of the Rules causes hardship
The relaxation of the Rules may be to the extent the State Government may consider necessary for dealing with a particular situation in a just and equitable manner
The scope of Rule is wide enough to confer power on the State Government to relax the requirement of Rules in respect of an individual or class of individuals to the extent it may consider necessary for dealing with the case in a just and equitable manner
The power of relaxation is generally contained in the Rules with a view to mitigate undue hardship or to meet a particular situation
Many a times strict application of service rules create a situation where a particular individual or a set of individuals may suffer undue hardship and further there may be a situation where requisite qualified persons may not be available for appointment to the service
In such a situation the Govern ment has power to relax requirement of Rules
The State Government may in exercise of its powers issue a general order relaxing any particular Rule with a view to avail the services of requisite officers
The relaxation even if granted in a general manner would enure to the benefit of individual officers
The State of Haryana was formed in March 1966 prior to that it was part of the State of Punjab
The service rules relating to Public 478 Works Department as applicable to the State of Punjab were made applicable to Haryana
Rule 6b which prescribed qualification for appointment to Class I service lays down that no person shall be appointed to the service by promo tion from Class II service unless he has completed eight years  service in Class II and has passed departmental examination prescribed under Rule 15
None of the appellants had completed eight years  service in Class II
In fact no other member of Class II service possessing the requisite qualifications was available for selection to Class I post
The respondent no doubt possessed the requisite qualifica tion with regard to the eight years length of service in Class II but he did not possess requisite educational quali fication
Thus no qualified officer of Class II service was available for promotion to Class I service although a number of vacancies were existing in Class I service
Having regard to these facts the Selection Committee made recommendation for the relaxation of Rule 6b in favour of the appellants who were found otherwise suitable
The Public Service Com mission also agreed with the recommendation made by the Selection Committee
The non availability of suitable Class II officers in Engineering Department possessing the neces sary and prescribed qualifications for promotion to Class I posed a problem for the State Government as on account of the large scale expansion of Engineering Department a number of posts in Class I service were lying vacant
A similar situation prevailed in the Building and Road Branch of Public Works Department
In the circumstances the State Government with a view to meet the particular situation decided to relax the qualifying length of service to such officers who had completed four years of service in Class II it therefore relaxed the requirement of Rule 6b to the extent that a member of Class II service having four years  service was qualified for being considered for promotion to Class I service
These facts would clearly show that the relaxation had been granted to particular individuals with a view to meet the situation which was in public interest
We find no legal infirmity in the order of relaxation
In BS Bansal vs State of Punjab and Ors a Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that if the power of relaxation could be exercised in order to meet a general situation then the whole purpose of the Rule would be frustrated and the Government would be armed with an arbitrary power which could cause great hardship to some officers
We have already referred to the relevant facts which show that in the instant case power of relaxation was exercised by the State Government to meet a particular situation it did not result into any injustice or cause hardship to any one
If power of 479 relaxation is exercised on extraneous consideration for oblique purposes or mala fide the court has power to strike down the same but exercise of power of relaxation to meet a particular situation cannot be held to be arbitrary or illegal
In BS Jain vs State of Haryana the High Court set aside the promotions made in pursuance of the relaxation granted under Rule 22 placing reliance on the decision of the Division Bench in BS Bansal s case
On appeal this Court in Ashok Gulati vs BS Jain  observed that the findings of the High Court that the State Government could not have relaxed the condition of passing the departmental professional examination by taking recourse to Rule 22 which conferred power of relaxation on the State Government could hardly be sustained
In Jit Singh  Ors
vs State of Pubjab  Ors
  the State Government s order granting relaxation under Rule 14 of the Punjab Police Service Rules 1959 in respect of the period of service was questioned
Rule 14 was almost identical in terms as Rule 22 of the instant case
In Jit Singh s case supra promotion of Inspectors to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police was involved
Under the Police Service Rules 1959 a Police Inspector having six years  continuous service was eligible for promo tion to the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police
The State Government in exercise of its power under Rule 14 granting relaxation to Inspectors who had been found fit for promotion as a large number of vacancies had occurred in the cadre of Deputy Superintendent of Police and no suitable persons having the requisite period of service were avail able
Promotions made pursuant to the relaxation were chal lenged before the High Court
The High Court dismissed the writ petition on the ground that the petitioners before it were not qualified for promotion
On appeal before this Court the High Court s judgment was upheld
This Court took the view that since the appellants before it were not eligi ble for promotion as their names were not included in the Select List prepared by the Public Service Commission and further as they had not completed six years  of continuous service prior to the respondents they were not entitled to any relief
The appeal was accordingly dismissed by this Court
While considering the question of validity of relaxa tion the Court made observation that Rule 14 did not permit any general relaxation of the nature ordered by the State Government
The Court however did not examine the matter in detail as it was of the view that since the appellants in that case were not eligible for promotion they could not question the validity of the appointment of those who had been promoted on the basis of relaxation being granted by the State Government
The Court upheld the promotions in view of the extra 480 ordinary situation in which the State Government made ap pointments iv derogation of requirement of Rules
On a careful scrutiny of the Rules in its various as pects we do not agree with the observations made in Jit Singh s case supra
Though Rule 22 is not happily worded as apparently it gives an impression that no general relaxa tion can be granted by the State Government out on a close scrutiny of the scope of the power we find that a narrow construction of the Rules would nullify the Government s power of relaxing Rules to meet a particular situation
Rule 22 is beneficial in nature it must be construed in a liberal manner and it should not be interpreted in a manner to defeat the very object and purpose of such power
Power to grant relaxation may be exercised in case of an individual to remove hardship being caused to him or to a number of individuals who all may be similarly placed
This power may also be exercised to meet a particular situation where on account of the operation of the Rules hardship is being caused to a set of individual officers
In the instant case the appellants were found suitable for promotion by the screening committee the Commission and the State Govern ment and the contesting respondent Yvas Dev was not found suitable even otherwise for promotion the State Government granted relaxation of Rule 6b in favour of the appellants
In such a situation it is beyond comprehension that the power of relaxation under Rule 22 was exercised arbitrarily or that it caused hardship or injustice to any one
On the formation of the new State of Haryana no promotion from Class II officers could be made to Class I service without granting any relaxation since 1966 to 1978
In 1971 72 eleven vacancies in the post of Executive Engineers were filled by promotion from Class II officers although none of them had completed requisite period of service prescribed by the Rules for promotion
In 1976 77 and 1977 78 sixteen and nine vacancies respectively in the post of Executive Engi neers were filled by promotion by granting relaxation as no officer of Class II service possessing requisite number of years of service was available for promotion
In 1978 79 seven officers of Class II service were promoted to the post of Executive Engineer but only one of them possessed the requisite period of service and all others were granted relaxation
These facts clearly show that in the absence of relaxation there could be no promotion to the post of Execu tive Engineer and the officers who were found suitable would have suffered great hardship
In 1973 also the State Govern ment with a view to meet the particular situation exercised its power of relaxation in appellants  favour
Having regard to these facts and circumstances we find no illegality in the appellants  promotions pursuant to the relaxation granted by the State Government
481 In Bansal s case supra the High Court and even in Jit Singh s case supra this Court did not set aside the promo tions made by the Government pursuant to relaxation of Rules on the ground that the petitioner who challenged the promo tions was himself not qualified and he had no legal right to hold the post in dispute although in both these cases Government s order granting general relaxation was held to be outside the scope of Rule 22 and Rule 14 of the Punjab Police Service Rules 1959
In the instant case the High Court has set aside the appellants  promotions following Bansal s case interpreting Rule 22 but it failed to notice that in that case the High Court did not set aside the promotions instead it dismissed the petition on the ground that the petitioner therein was not qualified and none of his rights were affected
The High Court failed to notice that Vyas Dev respondent was considered for promotion but he was not found suitable therefore he was not entitled to any relief
Since no legal right of the respondent was adversely affected the High Court should not have quashed the appel lants  promotions
On behalf of the appellants an alternative submission was made that since the appellants had already completed eight years  of service in Class H service during the pend ency of the writ petition their appointment stood regula rised
To support this submission reliance was placed on the decision of this Court in Ram Sarup vs State of Punjab 1979 1 SCC 168
In that case appointment to the post of Labour cum Conciliation Officer was made in breach of Rule 4 Clause I of the Punjab Labour Service Class I and II Rules 1955 as Ram Sarup did not possess five years  experience required by sub clause I of Rule 4 In spite of that he had been appointed to the post of Labour cum Conciliation Officer
Subsequently Ram Sarup was reverted on the ground that he was not qualified to be appointed as a Labour cum Conciliation Officer as he did not possess the minimum qualification of length of service
This Court held that the appointment of Ram Sarup made in breach of Rules was irregu lar but not wholly void and since Ram Sarup had completed five years of experience of working of labour laws before his reversion his appointment to the post of Labour cum Conciliation Officer stood regularised with effect from the date he completed five years of service
On these findings order of reversion was set aside by this Court
Undisputa bly the appellants completed eight years of service before January 15 1980 the date on which the Division Bench of the High Court set aside their promotions
In view of the principles laid down in Ram Sarup s case supra the appel lants  appointment even if irregular stood regularised on the 482 date they completed eight years of their service and there after their promotions could not be set aside
We accordingly allow the appeal set aside the judgment and order of the Division Bench dated 1511980 and restore the order of the learned single Judge dismissing the re spondents  writ petition
There will be no order as to costs
NPV Appeal al lowed


Summary:
This petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been filed by an Association of about 2000 em ployees working in 500 Railway Institutes and Clubs in various parts of the country claiming that they should be treated on the same par as the employees in the Statutory Canteens run by the Railway Administration
In support of their claim the petitioners while enumerating the range of activities handled by them they have attempted to draw a parallel with the regular employees contending inter alia that not only they receive grants in aid and a number of facilities from the Govt
 the Railway Board has always treated these institutes and clubs as an integral part of the Railways
The Respondents resisted the petition stoutly and con tended that the Institutes and Clubs are managed by a Com mittee representing its membership which engages such staff as is required and meets the cost of their wages and allow ances etc that the Railways are not the principal employ ers of their staff that they are not paid directly from the Consolidated Fund of India and whatever facilities are provided to them they are confined to the wholetime staff as a special case and not on account of any obligation under any law
On consideration of respective contentions and documents on record while dismissing the petition this Court
HELD There is a material difference between the can teens run in the Railway establishments and the Institutes and Clubs
The Institutes Clubs have to run on the member ship fees and fixed grants received from the Staff Benefit Fund
The fund consists of receipts from the forfeited provident fund and bonus and of fines
The grant is made as pointed out by the Respondents to each InstituteClub at the rate of 595 Rs 14 per capita of the non gazetted staff employed at the relevant establishment
Out of this contribution only Rs4 per capita are spent on the activities of the education
relief in case of distress and sickness sports scouts activities and for other miscellaneous purposes
There is further no dispute that the wages and allowances of the Staff of the InstitutesClubs are paid by the InstitutesClubs themselves and they are not subsidised by the Railway Administration as in the case of the statutory and non statutory recognised canteens
600H 160 E F  G On the facts it cannot be held that there is a rela tionship of employer employee between the Railway Adminis tration and the employees engaged in the Institutes and Clubs
Neither law nor facts spell out such relationship
If the present service conditions of these employees are unsat isfactory the remedy lies elsewhere
603B C