Civil Appeal No 3429 of 1982 Appeal by Special leave from the Judgment and order dated the 29th July 1982 of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Misc
Petition No 1169 of 1981
GL Sanghi and Ashok Srivastava for the Appellant
D YS Chitale Mrs A K Verma DN Misra AM Dittia and A K Sanghi for the Respondents The Judgment of the Court was delivered by VENKATRAMIAH J
The appellant is a judicial officer of the State of Madhya Pradesh who would have ordinarily retired on January 31 1984 on attaining 58 years of are He was appointed 468 as a Munsiff Magistrate in the erstwhile State of Bhopal in 1953
On reorganisation of States on November 1 1956 he became a member of the Judicial Service of the State of Madhya Pradesh
He was promoted as an Additional District Sessions Judge on January 
8 1974 and was confirmed in that post with effect from November 25 1971
Consequent upon the decision of the State Government to reorganise the Higher Judicial Service of the State of Madhya Pradesh in accordance with the advice of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh 101 posts Of the cadre of Additional District  Sessions Judges came to be abolished and the incumbents of those posts were to be absorbed as District  Sessions Judges as per Government Memorandum dated February 24 1981
In the  issue of the said Memorandum the High Court of Madhya Pradesh decided to screen the officers in the cadre of Additional District  Sessions Judges for the purpose of making recommendation to the State Government about the promotion of selected officers to the cadre of District  Sessions Judges
For this purpose Full Court Meetings of the Madhya Pradesh High Court were held on February 27 and 28 1981 and March 1 1981
The case of the appellant was also considered in that connection It is stated that at those meetings the High Court first resolved to scrutinise the cases of all the judicial officers who were to attain the age of 55 years in the year 1981
In the course of such scrutiny the High Court decided on February 27 1981 to retire the appellant compulsorily on his attaining the age of SS years under Rule 563 of the Fundamental Rules
On March l 1981 it decided not to recommend him for promotion to the cadre of District  Sessions Judges
Accordingly the State Government was addressed by the High Court to retire the appellant compulsorily
The appellant thereafter continued as an Additional District  Sessions Judge until he was served with the order of compulsory retirement dated August 28 1981
Aggrieved by that order the appellant filed a writ petition before the High Court
The petition was dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court on July 29 1982
This appeal is preferred by special leave against the judgment of the High Court Clause a of the Fundamental Rule 563 as amended in 1976 which governs the case of the appellant reads thus FR563a A Government servant may in the public interest be retired at any time after he attains the age of fifty five years without assigning any reason by giving him a notice in writing 469 It is contended that the order of compulsory retirement is unsustainable on various grounds and the principal ground urged is that the High Court had made the recommendation to retire the appellant compulsorily without applying its mind to the case as required by law that it was a decision based on collateral considerations and that it was arbitrary
It is now firmly settled that the power to retire a Government servant compulsorily in public interest in terms of a service rule is absolute provided the authority concerned forms an opinion bona fide that it is necessary to pass such an order in public interest
It is equally well settled that if such decision is based on collateral grounds or if the decision is arbitrary it is liable to be interfered with by courts
See Union of India vs Col JN Sinha  Anr
We have also gone through the following decisions namely Union of India vs ME Reddy  Anr Swami Saran Saksena vs State of UP Baldev Raj Chadha vs Union of India of Brij Bihari Lal Agawral vs High Court of Madhya Pradesh  Ors and D Ramaswami vs State of Tamil Nadu which have a bearing on the question before us
We shall now proceed to deal with the facts of the case in the light of the principles enunciated in the above decisions
In Para 10 of the counter affidavit of Shri AK Pandey Additional Registrar of the High Court of Madhya Pradesh filed before this Court it is stated as follows 
It is not disputed that Full Court Meeting was held on 27th28th February as well as Ist March 1981 to consider the cases of Additional District  Sessions Judges for promotion in the Higher Judicial Service
It is also not disputed that the petitioner stood at serial No 10 in the seniority list of Additional District Sessions Judges It is also not disputed that he was confirmed as Additional District  Sessions judge in August 1976
The personal confidential record of the petitioner is placed before this Hon ble Court and it speaks for itself Annexure R XI to XXXVIII
470 It is wrong to say that any extraneous consideration operated in the Full Court Meeting against the petitioner and it is wrong to say that the resolutions in the Court Meeting were unjust arbitrary or mala fide
As already pointed out the decision was taken in Full Court Meeting after consideration of the entire record of the petitioner The decision to retire the petitioner under Fundamental Rule 563 was after due consideration of the entire record of the petitioner
Confidential entries are Annexures R XT to XXXVIII
 On going through the said counter affidavit we are satisfied that apart from the confidential records nothing else appears to have been relied on by the High Court to reach the decision that the appellant should be compulsorily retired
We shall now proceed to Examine the confidential rolls maintained in respect or the appellant
The Confidential Reports in respect of the appellant are placed before us
lt is stated by the Registrar of the High Court in Para 13 of the counter affidavit that the appellants performance for 28 years was taken into consideration for screening under Fundamental Rule 563 The High Court has relied on some adverse remarks relating to 1959 60 or thereabouts lt is true that in the early part of his career the entries made do not appear to be quite satisfactory
They are of varied kinds
Some are good some are not good and some are of a mixed kind
But being reports relating to a remote period they are not quite relevant for the purpose of determining whether he should be retired compulsorily or not in the year 981 as it would be an act bordering on perversity to dig out old files to find out some material to make an order against an officer
We therefore confined our scrutiny to the reports made in respect of the appellant for about ten years prior to the date on which action was taken against him to retire him compulsorily
We find that all of them except for 1972 73 and 1973 74 are good and quite satisfactory
Even in 1972 73 and 1973 74 it is stated that there was nothing to doubt his integrity and that he was punctual in attending it to his work
It may be noted that the appellant was promoted as an Additional District  Sessions Judge on January 8 1974 and was also confirmed with effect from November 25 1974 by an order passed in 1976
Any adverse report in respect of an earlier period unless it had some connection with any event which took place subsequently cannot therefore reasonably form a basis for forming an opinion about the work of the appellant
471 We give below a few relevant extracts from the Confidential Reports for the period subsequent to March 31 974 
Year  1975 On confidential enquiries from the members of the Bar and from other sources nothing was found against him in respect of his integrity
During surprise check he was found on the board in time
Enquiries from other sources also disclosed that he usually comes in time and does not rise early and engages himself in judicial work
This impression was gathered from judicial diary also
After scrutiny of the cases the following impression was gathered
Knowledge about rules and orders law and procedure is adequate but the number of the interlocutory application is sometimes not entered in the margin of the connected order sheet in red ink
Judgments are good with proper discussion of evidence
Interlocutory matters are not kept unduly pending for long time
Rules regarding pleadings and evidence etc
are followed
Punishments were adequate
Examination of accused is proper
Charges framed are proper
Record is legible Control and supervision over the staff is satisfactory
Judicial diary calls for no particular comments
His relations with the Bar are cordial with no complaints of any misbehavior with any litigants His average disposal during the period in question was of very good category
There is nothing else to comment in particular
Year  1976 Knowledge of law and judicial Good capacity Remarks about his promptness in Promptness satisfactory the disposal of cases Remarks about reputation of integ Nothing was found against rity and impartiality his integrity or impartiality
General Remarks He was mostly punctual and 472 did not rise early
Judgments were proper and contained the required discussion of evidence Charges and examination of accused and issues were proper
Promptness in framing of issues was marked in recent months
Control and super vision over the staff was satisfactory
Settling dates should not normally be of more than two weeks as was notice in certain cases
Interlocutory matters were generally not kept unduly pending
Net Result Good Year 1976 77 Knowledge of Law and Judicial Satisfactory capacity Remarks about his promptness in Generally prompt the disposal of cases Percentage of average monthly 148
12 disposal Behaviour towards members of the Cordial Bar and Public General Remarks Satisfactorily managing heavy and exclusive civil file
Mostly punctual
Net Result Good Year 1977 78 Knowledge of Law and Judicial Good capacity Entry against almost all the 473 columns in the Report Good General Remark  Has good grasp of facts and law
Judgments in proper form and well written
Net Results Good Year 1979 80 a Shri Shrivastava begins his judicial work punctually at 1100 AM and works throughout the Court hours
So far it appears that he has arranged his Cause List judiciously fixing civil work for the day
This Judge understands that there can be no subsequent pleadings except by way of amendment of pleadings
In other words he understands the purport of order 8 rule 9 and order 6 rule 7 of the Civil Procedure Code
He also understands what is pleading i e Order 6 rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Code as compared with oral statement
He so far appears to be equally conversant with order 17 rule I of the Civil Procedure Code ie adjournment is only granted for sufficient cause
He does No find any difficulty in applying law relating to pleadings and interlocutory matters
So far his procedure conforms to rules or pleadings filing of documents framing of issues and recording of evidence
b So far on the criminal side he frames charges with care records evidence with such care and prepares examination of accused with equal care
c So far he makes a neat and legible record
He generally supervises the work of ministerial staff
d His judgments both on civil and criminal so far appear to be well written
He is prompt in his disposals including doing work therein
His work as a whole so far has been found to be of high quality
He also takes up civil work
His relations with the Bar so far appear to be cordial
e The above remarks are subject to the DO No 462C Rs1979 Jabalpur dated 6380 of the High Court
474 Note The Memo
sent to the appellant in March 1980 Only informed him of two remarks 1 that the did not dispose of Sessions trials quickly and 2 that he did not follow the amended provisions under order 39 rule 3 of the Civil Procedure Code
The Memo
also disclosed that the appellant did not write judgments in civil appeals according to the pattern prescribed that Sessions trials were not conducted quickly and that he granted unduly long adjournments of about a month or so for examination of accused and defence witnesses
The appellant sent a prompt reply to it oil March 28 1980 refuting the correctness of the above remarks
We have gone through the said reply
On going through the facts mentioned therein we feel that the remarks against him appear to be totally uncharitable
It shows that the appellant has disposed of more number of cases than what ordinarily could be disposed of during the relevant period
We are not informed of what action was taken on his prayer for expunging the said remarks
Year 1980 81 His out turn during the year was about 200 percent
The quality of work may be classed as good B  category
No specific complaints were received against him about his behaviour or integrity
 The above reports no doubt speak for themselves as stated in the counter affidavit of the additional Registrar
But they all speak in favour of the appellant and not against him
A persual of these reports shows that there was nothing against the appellant which necessitated the action which was taken against him
In the state of the above record it was impossible to take the view that the appellant was liable to be compulsorily retired unless there was any other circumstance which was adverse to him
We have found it necessary to incorporate in this judgment the relevant confidential remarks in great detail only to show that the action of the High Court was not called for
We may state here that the learned counsel for the High Court very fairly stated that there was no other circumstance against the appellant during the period subsequent to 1971 which would support the order of compulsory retirement
From what has been stated we find that the decision taken by the High Court in respect of the appellant is arbitrary as it was mainly based on the entries that were made about 20 years before the date on which the decision was 475 taken Dependence on such stale entries cannot be placed for retiring a person compulsorily particularly when the officer concerned has been promoted subsequent to such entries as held by this Court in D Ramaswami s case supra
In that case one of us Chinnappa Reddy J observed thus at pages 79 80 In the face of the promotion of the appellant just a few months earlier and nothing even mildly suggestive of ineptitude or inefficiency thereafter it is impossible to sustain the order of the Government retiring the appellant from service
The learned Counsel for the State of Tamil Nadu argued that the Government was entitled to take into consideration the entire history of the appellant including that part of it which was prior to his promotion
We do not say that the previous history of a Government servant should be completely ignored once he is promoted
Sometimes past events may help to assess present conduct
But when there is nothing in the present conduct casting any doubt on the wisdom of the promotion we see no justification for needless digging into the past In the result the judgment of the High Court is reversed and the resolution of the High Court recommending to the Government that the appellant should be compulsorily retired and the impugned order passed thereon under Fundamental Rule 563 are quashed
The resolution of the High Court that the appellant was not fit for promotion to the cadre of District  Sessions Judges is also quashed
The High Court should now consider in the light of this decision whether the appellant was entitled to be promoted as a District  Sessions Judge as on the date on which his immediate junior was promoted and make appropriate recommendation to the State Government
The appellant is entitled to all consequential financial and other benefits as if the order of compulsory retirement had not been passed
The appeal is accordingly allowed with costs
NVK Appeal allowed


Summary:
The appellant was a State Judicial Service officer in the grade of Additional District  Sessions Judge
Consequent upon the decision of the State Government to reorganise the Higher Judicial Service it was decided that a number of posts of the cadre of Additional District  Sessions Judges be abolished and the incumbents of those posts be absorbed as District  Sessions Judges
The High Court at one of the High Court meetings held to screen the officers in the cadre of Additional District  Sessions Judges decided to retire the appellant compulsorily on his at tanning the age of SS years under Rule 563a of the Fundamental Rules
It was also decided not to recommend him for promotion to the cadre of District and Sessions Judges
The appellant was served with an order of compulsory retirement dated August 28 1981
The Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the appellant s writ petition impugning his compulsory retirement
In the appeal to this Court it was contended that the High Court had made the recommendation to retire the appellant compulsorily without applying its mind and that the decision was based on collateral considerations and was arbitrary
On behalf of the High Court it was contended that the personal confidential records of the appellant were considered by the Full Court Meeting and the decision to retire the appellant under Fundamental Rule 563a was taken after due consideration of the entire record
Allowing the appeal  HELD 1
It would be an act bordering on perversity to dig out old files to find out some material to make an order against an officer
Dependence on entries about 20 years before the date on which the decision of compulsory retirement was taken cannot placed for retiring a person compulsorily particularly when such person concerned has been promoted subsequent to such entries
474H 475A DRamaswami vs State of Tamil Nadu 19811 2 SCR 75 referred to 2
The power to retire a Government servant compulsorily in public interest in terms of a service rule is absolute provided the authority concerned forms 467 an opinion bona fide that it was necessary to pass such an order in public interest
But if such decision was based on collateral grounds or if the decision was arbitrary it is liable to be interfered with by Courts
469 B C Union of India vs Col JN Sinha Anr 1971 1 SCR 791 Union of India vs ME Reddy  Anr   Swami Saran Saksena vs State of UP   Baldev Raj Chadha Y Union of India  ors   and Brij Bihari Lal Agarwal vs High Court of Madhya Pradesh  Ors  referred to
In the instant case the High Court relied on some adverse remarks relating to 1959 60 or thereabout
It was true that in the early part of the appellant s career the entries did not appear to be quite satisfactory
Some were and some were not good and some were of a mixed kind
But being reports relating to a remote period they are not quite relevant or the purpose of determining whether he should by retired compulsorily or not in 1981
The scrutiny should have been confined to the reports for about ten years prior to the date on which action was proposed to be taken
All the reports except for 1972 73 and 1973 74 were good and quite satisfactory
Even in the reports of the said years there was nothing to doubt his integrity
He was punctual in attending to his work
The reports for the years 1976 77 to 1980 81 speak in favour of the appellant and not against him
A perusal of the said reports showed that there was nothing against him
In these circumstances it was impossible to take the view that the appellant was liable to be compulsorily retired
470 E H 3
The resolution of the High Court recommending to the Government that the appellant should be compulsorily retired and the impugned order passed under Fundamental Rule 563a are quashed
The resolution of the High Court that the appellant was not fit for promotion to the cadre of District and Sessions Judges is also quashed
474 E