ivil Appeal No 432 of 1976
Appeal by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 4 10 1974 of the Rajasthan High Court in D B Civil Special Appeal No 134 of 1973
L M Singhvi KB Rohtagi section K Dhingra Vijay K Jain and MM Kashyap for the appellant
Mrs Shyamla Papu RN Sachthey and Girish Chandra for respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAY CJ
In this matter leave was granted on 30 March 1972
Leave was confined to the question whether Union of India is a necessary party
Leave was granted because it was contended that there were decisions to support the appellant s contention that the Union of India is not a necessary party
We gave leave to settle this question
410 The appellant applied under Article 226 in the High Court of Rajasthan
The appellant was an employee of the Northern Railway
He was removed from service with effect from 2 January 1969
His appeal against the order of removal was rejected by the General Manager
The appellant felt aggrieved and filed the application under Article 226
The trial court rejected the application on the ground that the Union of India was not impleaded
On appeal the Division Bench affirmed the decision of the trial court and held after referring to two decisions of this Court that the Union of India is a necessary party
Counsel for the appellant contended that the General Manager is the authority to hear these matters regarding the removal and therefore that is the appropriate party
Reliance was placed in support of the contention on the decision Hari Vishnu Karnath vs Ahmad Syed Isak  Ors1
That was a case relating to an Election Petition
The contention was advanced that the Union of India was a necessary party because the Election Commission is required to transmit copies of order of the Tribunal to the Speaker of the House and to publish the same in the Gazette
The Nagpur High Court rejected the contention that the Union was a necessary party on that ground
This decision can by no stretch of imagination be of any aid to the appellant in the present case
Counsel for the appellant relied on the decision of the Punjab High Court in Observer Publications Pvt Ltd vs Railway Board Ministry of Railways Government of India New Delhi2
The petitioner in that case made an applica tion under Article 226 to question the validity of the ban imposed by the Railway Board on the news weekly Indian Observer
At page 421 of the report the question of compe tency of the petition was discussed
The High Court said that it was accepted by both parties that the Railway Board was acting under a notification issued in this behalf  and the Railway Board was thus invested with all the powers of the Central Government
The High Court held that it was not necessary in that situation for the petitioner in that case to implead the Union Government and it could not be contend ed that the petition should fail on that ground
There is no discussion on the question now canvassed here
This decision is also of no aid to the appellant for the reasons indicated now
It cannot be disputed that the appellant was a servant of the Union
It is equally indisputable that any order of removal is removal from service of the Union
The appellant challenged that order
Any order which can be passed by any Court would have to be enforced against the Union
The General Manager or any other authority acting in the Railway administration is as much a servant of the Union as the appellant was in the present case
1 AIR 1954 Nag
2 411 The Union of India represents the Railway administra tion
The Union carries administration through different servants
These servants all represent the Union in regard to activities whether in the matter of appointment or in the matter of removal
It cannot be denied that any order which will be passed on an application under Article 226 which will have the effect of setting aside the removal will fasten liability on the Union of India and not on any servant of the Union
Therefore from all points of view the Union of India was rightly held by the High Court to be a necessary party
The petition was rightly rejected by the High Court
The appeal fails and is dismissed
Parties will pay and bear their own costs
PHP Appeal dis missed


Summary:
The appellant an employee of the Northern Railway was removed from service
His appeal against the order of removal was rejected by the General Manager
The appellant feeling aggrieved filed a writ petition under article 226
in the writ petition the General Manager was joined as a respondent but the Union of India was not impleaded
On appeal the Division Bench confirmed the decision of the single Judge
The counsel for the appellant contended that the General Manager is the authority to hear the matters regarding the removal and therefore he is the proper authority
Dismissing the appeal by Special Leave HELD The appellant was servant of the Union
The order of removal is removal from the service of the Union
Any order of a court would have to be enforced against the Union
The General Manager or any other authority acting in the Railway AdminiStration is as much a servant of the Union as the appellant was in the present case
The Union of India represents the Railway Administration
The Union carries administration through different servants
Any order setting aside the removal would fasten liability on the Union of India and not on any servant of the Union
There fore the Union of India is a necessary party
410G H 411A B Hari Vishnu Kamnath vs Ahmad Syed Isak  Ors AIR 1954 Nagpur 166 and Observer Publications P Ltd vs Railway Board Ministry of Railways Govt
of India New Delhi  distinguished