Case: Gurdev Singh Vs. State Of Punjab

from the notes regarding the representation of the appellant with regard to reversion made by the Inspector General of Police, could not be reverted as he was at the material point of time on deputation from Madhya Pradesh Government on particular terms on contract basis and it could not have been in the interest of Government to terminate his services earlier than the scheduled period.9. It is also of interest to note that the reversion of the appellant was ordered after mature consideration. A note prepared at the office of the Inspector General of Police which also bears e endorsement of the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister shows that Ajaib Singh Gill who had completed 23 years and 7 months of service was due back from leave on 1st December, 1954 and he had to be retained for another year and five months before he could be pensioned off. As there was no job of S. P. lying vacant in Pepsu at the moment it was suggested that the appellant who was the "junior (most) D. S. P." officiating as S. P. should revert and S. Ajaib Singh should be posted in his place.10. If the above note was a genuine document - and we have no reason to hold that it was otherwise - it is quite clear that the appellant was not sought to be reverted because of any shortcoming but because room had to be made for S. Ajaib Singh Gill and the axe fell on the appellant as he was considered to be the person at the bottom of the list of officers officiating as Superintendent of Police. It is true that Kanwar Sains name does not occur in this note but if Kanwar Sain was on deputation from Madhya Pradesh Government on a contract basis no exception can be taken to his having been retained in preference to the appellant.11. It appears that in dismissing the appeal of the appellant to the High Court, the learned Judges proceeded on the assumption that the Indian Police Service Scheme was legally binding and its provisions would have the same effect as the statutory rules and regulations. We may proceed to dispose of the appeal on the same assumption. The learned Judges of the High Court took the view that the appellants grievance even based on List II could not be upheld because he had been found unfit for retention in List II. The High Court apparently came to take this view on the strength of a document which was exhibited as C-2. The letter Ex. C-2 dated September 8, 1956 was addressed by the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Pepsu. It purports to show that the Chief Secretarys memorandum to the Government of India on August 13, 1956 containing the assessment of the State Government in respect of the work of Siasat Singh Sekhon and Gurdev Singh Sindhu and the finding that these two officers were not fit to be recommended for appointment to the Indian Police Service cadre in accordance with the provisions contained in paragraph 4 (iii) (b) of the said extension was accepted by the Government of India. As the letter of the Chief Secretary dated 13th August, 1956 was not produced before the Court we are not in a position to say when the assessment of the work of the appellant in connection with the retention of his name in List II was made, i. e., whether it was before 1st December, 1954 or subsequent thereto and in our view the High Court should not have relied on this document. Moreover, the ground for reverting the appellant to the substantive post of Deputy Superintendent of Police as borne out by the note prepared in the office of the Inspector General of Police and acceded to by the Chief Minister made no reference to any such assessment. It is also noteworthy that no such ground was put forward in the written statement where the only plea raised was founded on administrative convenience.12. Even though we find ourselves unable to uphold the judgment of the High Court based on the contents of Ex. C-2, we take the view that the reversion was justified on administrative grounds and, there was no bar to such reversion by reason of the inclusion of the appellants name in List II. The said list merely ensured that the officers whose names were borne thereon would be watched for the space of five years and they might be absorbed in the All India Service even within the said period as a result of periodical reviews. Although reversion on the ground of unfitness was mentioned in the scheme the possibility of such reversion when there was no available post in the cadre of Superintendents of Police was not ruled out. As the officers in List II had no right to be absorbed in the Indian Police service immediately the direction in the scheme that "officers placed in List II will continue to hold. their present post" merely meant that they would not be made to go out of their posts except on justifiable grounds. Holding a post in an officiating capacity as a Superintendent of Police did not entitle the appellant to continue in that post even if officers senior to him who were on leave or had been sent out of the State on deputation were to come back to the State and there was no room in the cadre to absorb them all. All that paragraph 4 (iii) (b) ensured was that if they were found fit with five years they would be absorbed in the All India Service cadre. If they were not found fit after the end of that period they could be reverted to posts outside the cadre of the Indian Police Service or made to retire unless their names were also included in List III - a contingency which has not arisen in this case.

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

Explanation:
0[ds]7. As the stand taken by the appellant rests on his claim based on the inclusion of his name in List II of the Indian Police Service Scheme it is necessary to examine the same and find out what right it gave him. The Scheme, an exhibit in this case, shows that it was meant to provide "for the extension of the organisation of the Indian Police Service" so that senior police officers could be available to the Government of the States and the Union of States in India. The primary object of the extension was to maintain and where necessary introduce a standard of efficiency at the highest administrative level in the States comparable to that maintained in all Provincial Governments and at the Centre. The scheme was extended to numerous States including Pepsu. Clause 4 of the Scheme shows the initial constitution of the service. If laid down steps to allow opportunities to existing incumbents of the posts to be encadred and all officers holding posts of similar status were to be considered to be the first and primary source for recruitment to the State cadre of the Indian Police Service at its initial constitution. This was done by each State Government setting up a Selection Board in consultation with the Government of India. The Board was to review cases of all officers of the State Government of the description mentioned, make a preliminary selection from among them of all officers of the State Government of the specified descriptions who were suitable for inclusion in one or the other of the three lists referred to in the subsequent paragraph. The First List was to contain names of officers who were considered suitable for immediate appointment to the Indian Police Service subject to probation, with reference to the minimum. All India Standard adopted in assessing the suitability of Provincial Service Officers. The second list was to "contain names of officers who though not up to the required standard immediately showed sufficient promise to render it likely that they would attain such standard, with further experience during a period not exceeding five years". Officers in List I were to be immediately appointed to the Indian Police Service in the State cadre concerned subject to aitself the order is unexceptionable in that it merely directed the appellant who was serving in an officiating capacity to go back to his substantive post. There is no stigma cast on him and no adverse remark against his character or efficiency. If it be a fact that he was reverted for administrative reasons he could not complain except on the ground that the inclusion of his name in List II gave him a right to hold the post of the Superintendent of Police in an officiating capacity for five years. Apart from the consideration of the rights based on the inclusion of his name in the said list he could have no grievance about the retention of Ram Singh, Daljit Singh and Harpal Singh in the cadre of officiating Superintendents of Police. He could only base his complaint on the retention of Kanwar Sain who was junior to him in the cadre in preference to himself. Kanwar Sain, it appears from the notes regarding the representation of the appellant with regard to reversion made by the Inspector General of Police, could not be reverted as he was at the material point of time on deputation from Madhya Pradesh Government on particular terms on contract basis and it could not have been in the interest of Government to terminate his services earlier than the scheduled period.9. It is also of interest to note that the reversion of the appellant was ordered after mature consideration. A note prepared at the office of the Inspector General of Police which also bears e endorsement of the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister shows that Ajaib Singh Gill who had completed 23 years and 7 months of service was due back from leave on 1st December, 1954 and he had to be retained for another year and five months before he could be pensioned off. As there was no job of S. P. lying vacant in Pepsu at the moment it was suggested that the appellant who was the "junior (most) D. S. P." officiating as S. P. should revert and S. Ajaib Singh should be posted in his place.10. If the above note was a genuine document - and we have no reason to hold that it was otherwise - it is quite clear that the appellant was not sought to be reverted because of any shortcoming but because room had to be made for S. Ajaib Singh Gill and the axe fell on the appellant as he was considered to be the person at the bottom of the list of officers officiating as Superintendent of Police. It is true that Kanwar Sains name does not occur in this note but if Kanwar Sain was on deputation from Madhya Pradesh Government on a contract basis no exception can be taken to his having been retained in preference to the appellant.11. It appears that in dismissing the appeal of the appellant to the High Court, the learned Judges proceeded on the assumption that the Indian Police Service Scheme was legally binding and its provisions would have the same effect as the statutory rules and regulations. We may proceed to dispose of the appeal on the same assumption. The learned Judges of the High Court took the view that the appellants grievance even based on List II could not be upheld because he had been found unfit for retention in List II. The High Court apparently came to take this view on the strength of a document which was exhibited as C-2. The letter Ex. C-2 dated September 8, 1956 was addressed by the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Pepsu. It purports to show that the Chief Secretarys memorandum to the Government of India on August 13, 1956 containing the assessment of the State Government in respect of the work of Siasat Singh Sekhon and Gurdev Singh Sindhu and the finding that these two officers were not fit to be recommended for appointment to the Indian Police Service cadre in accordance with the provisions contained in paragraph 4 (iii) (b) of the said extension was accepted by the Government of India. As the letter of the Chief Secretary dated 13th August, 1956 was not produced before the Court we are not in a position to say when the assessment of the work of the appellant in connection with the retention of his name in List II was made, i. e., whether it was before 1st December, 1954 or subsequent thereto and in our view the High Court should not have relied on this document. Moreover, the ground for reverting the appellant to the substantive post of Deputy Superintendent of Police as borne out by the note prepared in the office of the Inspector General of Police and acceded to by the Chief Minister made no reference to any such assessment. It is also noteworthy that no such ground was put forward in the written statement where the only plea raised was founded on administrative convenience.12. Even though we find ourselves unable to uphold the judgment of the High Court based on the contents of Ex. C-2, we take the view that the reversion was justified on administrative grounds and, there was no bar to such reversion by reason of the inclusion of the appellants name in List II. The said list merely ensured that the officers whose names were borne thereon would be watched for the space of five years and they might be absorbed in the All India Service even within the said period as a result of periodical reviews. Although reversion on the ground of unfitness was mentioned in the scheme the possibility of such reversion when there was no available post in the cadre of Superintendents of Police was not ruled out. As the officers in List II had no right to be absorbed in the Indian Police service immediately the direction in the scheme that "officers placed in List II will continue to hold. their present post" merely meant that they would not be made to go out of their posts except on justifiable grounds. Holding a post in an officiating capacity as a Superintendent of Police did not entitle the appellant to continue in that post even if officers senior to him who were on leave or had been sent out of the State on deputation were to come back to the State and there was no room in the cadre to absorb them all. All that paragraph 4 (iii) (b) ensured was that if they were found fit with five years they would be absorbed in the All India Service cadre. If they were not found fit after the end of that period they could be reverted to posts outside the cadre of the Indian Police Service or made to retire unless their names were also included in List III - a contingency which has not arisen in this case.