Case: P. C. Wadhwa Vs. State Of Haryana &amp; Ors

The facts of the case lie within a very narrow compass and may be stated thus:The appellant was an IPS officer allotted to the Haryana State and before his services were placed at the disposal of the Haryana State Electricity Board (hereinafter referred to as the Board), he was holding a substantive rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Police and was Commandant General, Home Guards and Director, Civil Defence. On April 15, 1969 the appellant was sent on deputation and his services were placed at the disposal of the Board where he was to work as Deputy Inspector General of Police for Vigilance Work. On July 10, 1970 the post of Deputy Inspector General of Police in the Board was declared equivalent in status and responsibility to the IPS Cadre post of Deputy Inspector General of Police in order to protect the pay and salary and other allowances of the appellant which he was getting in his post before his deputation to the Board. In the Board, the appellant was designated as Vigilance Officer. By an order dated August 14, 1970 the appellants terms of deputation to the Board were finalized by the Haryana Government and the same were communicated to the appellant on August 26, 1970. The terms and conditions on which the appellant was sent on deputation to the Board are contained in the order passed by the Governor of Haryana (Annexure B to SLP It would be seen that the order of the Governor, while protecting the pay and emoluments that the appellant was getting, did not mention anything about any deputation allowance being given to him. The appellant made a representation to the Central Government for payment of deputation allowance in accordance with rule 2 (b) of the All India Services (Conditions of Service-Residuary Matters) Rules, 1960 (hereinafter referred to as the Residuary Rules) and submitted that he should be given the same deputation allowance as was admissible to the officers of the Haryana State Civil Service holding posts of Class I when they were sent on deputation to some other department or local body. The representation filed by the appellant to Central Government was rejected. The appellant then filed the writ petition before the High Court which was dismissed in limine, as indicated above. Hence this appeal.

Reasoning: We are unable to read in any of these rules any prohibition or bar to the payment of deputation allowance to an officer of the IPS Cadre on deputation to any of the authorities mentioned in rule 2(i) above. In the instant case the appellant was sent on deputation to the Board which is a body wholly or substantially owned by the State Government. The mere absence of the provision for payment of deputation allowance cannot be interpreted to mean an absolute bar to the receipt of such deputation allowance by an IPS Cadre officer, if other Rules permit such a course of action. Similarly, Rule 9 of the IPS (Pay) Rules, 1954 contains various clauses which merely protect the Pay and salaries admissible to an IPS officer when sent on deputation. There is no reference to any allowance or other emoluments in the Rule, excepting pay which is clearly set out in Schedule III to those Rules. We have gone through Sub-Rules (1) to (6) of Rule 9 and are unable to find any limitation contained in these rules which could prevent the appellant from getting deputation allowance. Reliance was, however, placed on the proviso to sub-rule (6) which may be extractedd that the pay allowed to an officer under this sub-rule and sub-rule (5) shall not at any time be less than what he would have drawn had he not been appointed to a post referred to in sub-rule (4)."The dominant object of the proviso is merely to protect the pay and salary which an IPS officer was getting when he was sent on deputation, so that his being sent on deputation may not cause any prejudice to his career or emoluments. There being no Rules on the subject, it is manifest that in such cases the Residuary Rules would apply. We might mention that the Residuary Rules were made in 1960, about six years after the issuance of IPS (Cadre) Rules and IPS (Pay) Rules. It seems to us that the Central Government realised that, when other officers of the State Government on deputation were entitled to deputation allowance, there was no reason why this privilege should be denied to officers of the cadre of IPS. Perhaps it was with this essential object in view that Rule 2(b) of the Residuary Rules was enacted so as to enable IPS officers to get deputation allowance on the same terms as officers of State Civil Service Class I were getting. This provision would naturally hold the field in the absence of any express Rules made by the Central Government, which have so far not been madeIn the first place, Rule 2 (b) of the Residuary Rules makes an exception only if the Central Government makes an order and that too after consultation with the State Government concerned modifying the Rule. There is no evidence in this case to show that any order was passed by the Central Government after consulting the State Government to modify or take away the effect of rule 2(b) of the Residuary Rules. The order of the Governor of Haryana cannot by any stretch of imagination be construed as an order passed by the Central Government. For these reasons the contentions raised by the respondents must be overruled. For the reasons given above we hold that the appellant is legally entitled under the Statutory Rules as indicated above to get deputation allowance. The Board was therefore in law bound to pay the said deputation allowance to the appellant.