Case: K.Gopaul Vs. Union Of India And Others

that this transfer would involve loss of lien on a permanent post by the appellant. The subsequent orders have, however, clearly rectified this error. By the Order, dated 6th June 1964, the first step was taken of keeping the earlier existing temporary post of Accommodation Controller, Madras, in abeyance with effect from 6th February 1964, the date on which the appellant took charge of that post, and, instead, another temporary post of Accommodation Controller, Madras, was created in the scale of pay which was applicable to the post of I. G. R.Later on, while the appeals were pending in the High Court, the Government sent a letter conveying their decision to create a supernumerary post of I. G. R. in the State Service with effect from 11th November 1963 in order to protect the rights of the appellant. A supernumerary post of Additional Inspector-General of Registration was in fact created by the Order, dated 6th October 1966, with effect from 11-11-1963. That Order was later superseded by the Order dated l0th February 1967, which conveyed Governments sanction to the creation of a supernumerary post of I. G. R. in the State Service not borne on the Indian Civil Administrative Cadre in the scale of pay which the appellant was drawing when he was holding the post of I. G. R. which was placed in the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service. This supernumerary post was created with effect from 11-11-1963 and it was laid down that it would exist until such time as the appellant was confirmed in another post. The appellant was thus provided a lien on this supernumerary post of I. G. R. in the State Service. On behalf of the appellant, it was urged that the supernumerary post of I. G. R. is a temporary post, and the fact that the Government has placed his lien on this post does not protect his rights to pension. On behalf of the Government, the reply is that the supernumerary post of I. G. R. is a permanent post and not a temporary post. In R. 9 (22) of the Fundamental Rules of the Madras Government, a permanent post is defined to mean a post carrying a definite rate of pay sanctioned without limit of time, while under R. 9 (30), a temporary post is defined to mean a post carrying a definite rate of pay sanctioned for a limited time. The supernumerary post of I. G. R. created by the Order of the Government, dated 10th February 1967, is not for a limited time. The post has been created for an indefinite period and is to continue in existence as long as the appellant holds that post and is not confirmed in any other permanent post. This supernumerary post of I. G. R. is, thus, clearly covered by the definition of permanent post, so that the appellant now holds lien on a permanent post and, consequently, satisfies the second condition for qualifying for pension laid down in R. 361 of the Madras Pension Code, mentioned above. There is, therefore, no force in the submission that the Orders made by the Government have resulted in any punishment being inflicted on the appellant by prejudicing his rights to pension and gratuity.7. The last point urged by learned counsel was that the post of I. G. R. has been placed in the cadre of the Indian Administrative "Service in the State of Madras only and in no other State and, as a consequence, the appellant lost his appointment to that post due to the unequal treatment meted out by the Government of India. Under R. 4 (1) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, framed under the All India Services Act 61 of 1951, the strength and composition of the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service constituted for a State are to be determined by regulations made by the Central Government in consultation with the State Government concerned. Rule 4 (2) lays down that the Central Government shall, at the interval of every three years, re-examine the strength and composition of each such cadre in consultation with the State Government concerned. It was as a result of re-examination in the year 1963 that the Central Government declared the post of I. G. R. as well as a number of other posts as cadre posts of the Indian Administrative Service in consultation with the Madras Government. When such re-examination takes place, the circumstances and conditions existing in a particular State have to be taken into account. It is not necessary that similar posts in all States in India must all be placed in the same cadre. Depending on the conditions brought to the notice of the Central Government, the Government may consider it desirable that a particular post in one State should be placed on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, whereas, in another State, it may not be considered advisable to do so. On behalf of the appellant, Vol. II of the Hand Book of Rules and Regulations for the All India Services was brought to our notice. The edition corrected up to 1st September 1962 showed the posts in the various States placed on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service.These Rules certainly do not show that the post of I. G. R. in any State was in the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in that year, but a comparison of the various lists shows that there are some posts which, in some of the States, are borne on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, whereas they are not included in that Cadre in other States. Clearly, there can be no uniformity between different States in the matter of determining the strength and the composition of the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in all the States. The submission that we should hold the order of the Union Government as void on the ground of discrimination between different States has, therefore, no force and must be rejected.

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]We cannot accept the submission that the mere fact that the post of Accommodation Controller, to which the appellant has been transferred, has not been designated as the post of a Head of the Department necessarily involves any reduction in rank. In fact, it is well known that in Government service, there may be senior posts, the holders of which are not declared as Heads of Department while persons holding comparatively Junior posts may be declared as such. The rank in Government service does not depend on the mere circumstance that the Government servant, in the discharge of his duties, is given certainsubmission made on behalf of the appellant that the post of I. G. R. is higher in rank than that of a Deputy Secretary is thus clearly wrong. In fact, the post is lower in rank than that of a Deputy Secretary and is equated with that of an Assistant Secretary. It has not even been suggested anywhere that the post of Accommodation Controller is lower in rank than that of an Assistant Secretary to Government or a Deputy Collector. On the other hand, the information given to us in the course of the arguments showed that, under the Rules, the Accommodation Controller works directly under the control of the Government, while the I. G. R. is subordinate to the Board of Revenue. We, consequently, find no force at all in the plea that the posting of the appellant as Accommodation Controller, when he was holding the post of I. G. R. amounted to reduction inpost has been created for an indefinite period and is to continue in existence as long as the appellant holds that post and is not confirmed in any other permanent post. This supernumerary post of I. G. R. is, thus, clearly covered by the definition of permanent post, so that the appellant now holds lien on a permanent post and, consequently, satisfies the second condition for qualifying for pension laid down in R. 361 of the Madras Pension Code, mentioned above. There is, therefore, no force in the submission that the Orders made by the Government have resulted in any punishment being inflicted on the appellant by prejudicing his rights to pension andR. 4 (1) of the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, framed under the All India Services Act 61 of 1951, the strength and composition of the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service constituted for a State are to be determined by regulations made by the Central Government in consultation with the State Government concerned. Rule 4 (2) lays down that the Central Government shall, at the interval of every three years, re-examine the strength and composition of each such cadre in consultation with the State Government concerned. It was as a result of re-examination in the year 1963 that the Central Government declared the post of I. G. R. as well as a number of other posts as cadre posts of the Indian Administrative Service in consultation with the Madras Government. When such re-examination takes place, the circumstances and conditions existing in a particular State have to be taken into account. It is not necessary that similar posts in all States in India must all be placed in the same cadre. Depending on the conditions brought to the notice of the Central Government, the Government may consider it desirable that a particular post in one State should be placed on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, whereas, in another State, it may not be considered advisable to do so. On behalf of the appellant, Vol. II of the Hand Book of Rules and Regulations for the All India Services was brought to our notice. The edition corrected up to 1st September 1962 showed the posts in the various States placed on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service.These Rules certainly do not show that the post of I. G. R. in any State was in the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in that year, but a comparison of the various lists shows that there are some posts which, in some of the States, are borne on the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service, whereas they are not included in that Cadre in other States. Clearly, there can be no uniformity between different States in the matter of determining the strength and the composition of the Cadre of the Indian Administrative Service in all the States. The submission that we should hold the order of the Union Government as void on the ground of discrimination between different States has, therefore, no force and must be rejected.