ivil Appeals Nos
1987 1988 of 1976
Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order dated the 25 3 1975 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Civil Writ Petn
1228  1229 of 1975
GL Singh in CA 198876 with Hardev Singh B Datta and NS Sodhi for the appellants
Niren De Attorney General with Devan Chetan Das Adv
General Prem Malhotra and RN Sachthey for respondents Nos 1  2
Anand Swarup and Mrs section Bhandare for respondent No 3 362 The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAY CJ
These appeals are by special leave against the judgment dated 25 March 1975 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing the writ petitions
The appellants in the writ petitions asked for a manda mus directing Respondents No 1 and 2 to appoint the appel lants to the posts of Additional District and Sessions Judge
The appellants also asked for a mandamus or an appropriate writ quashing the orders of Respondents No 1 and 2 whereby the High Court was informed that the Govern ment was not prepared to appoint the appellants to the post of Additional District and Sessions Judge
Respondent No 1 is the State of Haryana
Respondent No 2 is the Chief Minister of Haryana
Respondent No 3 is the High Court of Punjab and Haryana
The High Court dismissed the petitions on the ground that the appellants had no locus standi to file the peti tions
The reason given by the High Court is that the appel lants were not appointed and they had no right to be ap pointed
They had also no right to know why they were not appointed
The High Court by letter dated 19 February 1972 invited applications from eligible members of the Bar to fill up two vacancies in the quota of direct recruits from the Bar in the Haryana Superior Judicial Service
The High Court called for interview 9 candidates on 18 October 1972
The High Court thereafter recommended to the Haryana Government the names of the appellants for appointment as DistrictAdditional District  Sessions Judges
After 27 months the Government reacted the recommendation of the High Court
Thereupon the appellants filed writ petitions challenging the order of rejection and asked for mandamus for appointment
There is a letter dated 8 September 1972 from the Chief Secretary to the Government of Haryana to the Registrar of the High Court
In that letter the Government took excep tion to the inviting of applications from members of the Bar without the High Court having first obtained the approval of the Government for that purpose
The letter also stated that in the past two occasions the High Court obtained the approval of the State Government before inviting applica tion
The High Court rightly dismissed the petitions
It is elementary though it is to be restated that no one can ask for a mandamus without a legal right
There must be a judicially enforceable right as well as a legally protected right before one suffering a legal grievance can ask for a mandamus
A person can be said to be aggrieved only when a person is denied a legal right by some one who has a legal duty 363 to do something or to abstain from doing something See Halsbury s Laws of England 4th Ed
I paragraph 122 State of Haryana vs Subash Chander Marwaha  Ors1 Jasbhai Motibhai Desai vs Roshan Kumar Haji Bashir Ahmed  Ors
2 and Ferris Extraordinary Legal Remedies paragraph 198
The initial appointment of District Judges under Article 233 is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Government after consultation with the High Court
The Governor is not bound to act on the advice of the High Court
The High Court recommends the names of persons for appointment
If the names are recommended by the High Court it is not obli gatory on the Governor to accept the recommendation
Counsel for the appellants relied on the decisions of this Court in Chandra Mohan vs State of Uttar Pradesh  Ors3 Chandramouleshwar Prasad vs Patna High Court  Ors4 and A Panduranga Rao vs State of Andhra Pradesh  ORS5 in SUppOrt of tWO contentions
First the Governor should accept the recommendations made by the High Court
Second if the Governor will not accept the recommendations he should give reasons for not accepting the recommenda tions
None of the decisions supports the contentions
In these three cases the scope and content of Article 233 was examined
This Court has held that the Constitu tion contemplates consultation of the Governor with the High Court inasmuch as the High Court is in a position to express views on the judicial work of persons who are recommended for appointment to the posts of District Judges
The High Court knows the merits and demerits of persons who will be promoted from the service to the post
The High Court interviews persons who will be appointed by direct recruit ment
The High Court in those circumstances will select candidates for promotion and direct recruitment and send their names to the Government
This Court has also held that the consultation of the Governor with the High Court does not mean that the Governor must aceept whatever advice or recommendation is given by the High Court
Article 233 requires that the Governor should obtain from the High Court its views on the merits and demerits of persons selected for promotion and direct recruitment
In regard to persons who are appointed by promotion or direct recruitment this Court has held that it is not open to the Government to choose a candidate for appOintment by direct recruitment or by promotion unless and until his name is recommended by the High Court
In Panduranga Rao s case supra there is an observation that the Government could tell the High Court its reasons for not accepting 1  2 19761 3 SCR 58
3 4 19701 2 SCR 666
5  364 the recommendations of the High Court in regard to certain persons
The observation in Panduranga Rao s case supra was made in the facts and circumstances of that case and in particular the controversial correspondence
In the present case the Government pointed out that the High Court had not written to the Government about the proposed appointments before issuing advertisements there for
In any event after the Government communicated to the High Court that the recommendations were not accepted a new situation developed
The Government asked the High Court to issue advertisements and to invite applications for appointment to the posts
The High Court accepted that position and acted upon it
The High Court issued the advertisements
The attitude of the High Court has been peculiar
When the High Court decided to ask for fresh applications the High Court accepted the position that the original recom mendations which had been made by the High Court were not accepted by the State Government and yet the High Court supported before this Court the appellant s case by pleading for the candidature of the appellants
The High Court should not take a partisan view by supporting the candida ture of any person
We were a little surprised that the High Court supported the appellants
This is not proper particularly when the High Court dismissed the writ peti tions of the appellants
For the foregoing reasons the appeals are dismissed
There will be no order as to costs
MR Appeals dis missed


Summary:
The Haryana High Court invited applications and interviewed candidates for filling up vacancies in the quota of direct recruits from the bar in the Haryana Superior Judicial Service
The names of the appellants were recommended to the State Government who rejected them and asked the High Court to invite application again
Accepting the position the High Court issued the advertisements
The appellants filed petitions against the order rejecting their names and asked for mandamus for appointment
The same were dismissed by the High Court on the ground that the appellants had no locus standi
Dismissing the appeals the Court HELD 1 There must be a judicially enforceable right as well as a legally protected right before one suffering a legal grievance can ask for a mandamus
A person can be said to be aggrieved only when he is denied a legal right by some one who has legal duty to do something or to abstain from doing something
362G H 363A B State of Haryana vs Subash Chander Marwaha  Ors   Jasbhai Motibhai Desai vs Roshan Kumar Haji Bashir Ahmed  Ors   Halsbury s Laws of England 4th Ed
I pargraph 122 and Ferris Extra ordi nary Legal Remedies paragraph 198 applied
2 The initial appointment of District Judges under Article 233 is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Government after consultation with the High Court though the consulta tion does not mean that the Governor must accept whatever advice or recommendation is given by the High Court
Article 233 only requires that the Governor should obtain from the High Court its views on the merits and demerits of per sons selected for promotion and direct recruitment363A B F G Chandra Mohan vs State of Uttar Pradesh  Ors  Chandramouleshwar Prasad vs Patna High Court  Ors  and A Panduranga Rao vs State of Andhra Pradesh  Ors  referred to