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1997 Supreme(SC) 1521
1997(10) Supreme 69
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(From Delhi High Court)
S.C. Agrawal and G.T. Nanavati, JJ.
Union of India & Ors. -Appellants
versus
W.S. Chona -Respondent
Civil Appeal No. 8273 of 1997
Decided on 25-11-1997
Counsel for the Parties :
For the Appellants : R.K. Anand, Sr. Advocate, Lokesh Sawhney and A.K. Srivastava, Advocates.
For the Respondent : Mukul Rohtagi, Sr. Advocate, Manoj Prasad, Advocate.
Headnote:(i) ARMED FORCES-Promotion from rank of Major General to rank of Lieutenant General in the Army-Qualitative Requirements (QRs) prescribed for Staff Only Stream-Whether QRs for promotion of Non-General Cadre Officers from rank of Maj. Gen. to rank of Lt. Gen. on staff side had been approved by Central Government?-(Yes)-The QRs were finalised in the note submitted to Joint Secretary by Military Secretary dated 7-2-1986-Whether these QRs can be said to have been superseded by the letter dated 5-2-1992?-(No)-This letter primarily relates to dispensing with the concept of criteria appointments in the rank of Maj. Gen. in supporting Arms and Services.
Held : The letter dated February 5, 1992 primarily relates to dispensing with concept of criteria appointments in the rank of Maj. Gen. in supporting Arms and Services and gives effect to the decision taken at the Army Commander s Conference held in October 1991 and, as a result, all appointments, both within the Corps and outside, in the rank of Maj. Gen. for officers of supporting Arms and Services are to be treated as "Command Criteria Appointments." The statement in the said letter that "there is no change to the existing requirements before Maj. Gen. of supporting arms and services can be considered for promotion to the rank of Lt. Gen. only clarifies that the said requirements would continue to be followed for such promotion. Since these requirements were in existence prior to the adoption of the QRs in 1986, the reiteration of the said requirements in the letter dated February 5, 1992 does not, in any way, effect the operation of the QRs as adopted in 1986 for the purpose of promotion of Non-General Cadre officers from the rank of Maj. Gen. to the rank of Lt. Gen. (Para 15)
(ii) ARMY SERVICE-Promotion from rank of Major General to rank of Lieutenant General-Qualitative Requirements prescribed for promotion of Non-General Cadre Officers from rank of Maj. Gen. to rank of Lt. Gen. in the Staff Only Stream-Clause (b) requires that officer s performance on staff appointment should be of a high order-Staff appointment contemplated in clause (b) of QRs is other than Corps Staff appointment-It contemplates grades staff appointment outside the Corps-Appointments held by respondent, both as Brig. and Maj. Gen., including that with C-Dot-Corps appointments and were not graded Staff appointments-Held, respondent did not fulfil qualitative requirement contemplated in clause (b) of QRs-No infirmity in recommendation of Special Selection Board treating him unfit for promotion to rank of Lt. Gen. in the staff only stream-High Court was in error in interfering with said decision of Central Government-Adverse remarks made against functionaries at Army Headquarters as well as in Ministry of Defence set aside.
Held : Clause (b) of the QRs envisages that the staff has to be a Staff appointment outside the Corps and performance of the officer on such appointment should be of higher order so that he can be considered fit in all respects to hold various staff, instructional and extra regimental (ERE) appointments in the higher rank. A Corps Staff appointment only enables an officer to acquire experience of the work relating to his Arm or Service and does not enable him to acquire experience in other fields which is necessary for promotion to the rank of Lt. Gen. on the "Staff Only" Stream. The performance of the officer on a Corps Staff appointment is already covered by clause (a) of the QRS which requires that the performance of the officer in Corps appointment should be of a very high order. Since Corps appointments (which would include a Corps Staff appointment) are already covered by clause (a), the Staff appointment in clause (b) must necessarily mean a Staff appointment outside the Corps. We are, therefore, in agreement with the submission of Shri Anand that clause (b) of the QRs only contemplates a Staff appointment outside the Corps. Since the appointments held by the respondent, both as Brig. and Maj. Gen., including that with the C-DOT, were Corps appointments and were not graded Staff appointments, it cannot be said that he fulfilled the qualitative requirement contemplated in clause (b) of the QRs. We, therefore, do not find any infirmity in the recommendation of the Special Selection Board treating him unfit for promotion to the rank of Lt. Gen. in the "staff only" stream which recommendation had been approved by the Central Government. (Para 18)
The High Court was, therefore, in error in interfering with the said decision of the Central Government and quashing the order dated November 1, 1994. Once it is held that there is no infirmity in the non-selection of the respondent for promotion from the rank of Maj. Gen. to the rank of Lt. Gen. by the Special Selection Board which met in July 1994, the respondent had to retire as Maj. Gen. after attaining the age of 56 years on October 31, 1994 and the direction contained in the letter dated January 4, 1994 regarding his date of superannuation from the Army has been rightly issued and the High Court was in error in quashing the same. In the impugned judgment of the High Court there are adverse remarks against the functionaries at the higher level both at the Army Headquarters as well as in the Ministry of Defence. The said remarks, in our opinion, were uncalled for and are, therefore, set aside. (Para 19)
JUDGMENT
S.C. Agrawal, J.-Special leave granted.
2. This appeal against the judgment of the Delhi High Court dated November 10, 1995 in Civil Appeal No. 4915 of 1995 relates to promotion from the rank of Major General to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Army.
3. The personnel in the Army fall in two broad categories, namely, General Cadre consisting of Infantary, Mechanised Infantary and Armoured corps, and Non-General Cadre consisting of Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Army Ordinance Corps, Army Service Corps and Electrical Mechanical Corps. The appointment within the corps or the service is known as Corps Appointment which may be on the command side or staff side within the corps or the service. Apart from Corps Appointments, appointments are also made outside the corps/service on the staff side which are called Staff Appointments . Till September 9, 1986 officers in the Non-General Cadre could be promoted to the rank of Lt. Gen. in their respective Corps/Service Appointments only. By circular dated September 9, 1986 issued by the Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters it was decided to adopt the "Two Stream Concept for officers of the rank of Brigadier and above. The said concept envisages that the officers on promotion to the rank of Maj. Gen. and Lt. Gen. will be bifurcated into the Command and Staff stream and the Staff Only stream. Non-General Cadre officers could also be considered for the Staff Only stream in the rank of Lt. Gen. The following provision was made in this regard for Non-General Cadre officers in the said circular :-
"Non-General Cadre Officers
6. High calibre officers in the rank of Brig. from other Arms and Services who are considered fit for promotion to the next higher rank within their own Corps, will be screened for holding unspecified Staff/ERE appointments on first promotion. If selected to hold unspecified appointments outside their Corps, such officers may be promoted to the higher rank of Staff/ERE appointments outside their Corps ahead of officers senior to them in the same batch. These officers will be exercised in criteria appointments within their Corps subsequently prior to selection for the next higher rank.
Methodology of Streaming
7. Withe the introduction of Stream Concept, the methodology of screening officers for promotion will also undergo a change. Based on the QRs prescribed from time to time, officers will first be screened to assess their suitability for promotion to the higher ranks. Those considered fit will be subjected to another screening for bifurcation into the Two Streams . Officers with higher command potential will be inducted into the Command and Staff Stream while others to the Staff Only Stream.
8. Non-General Cadre officers of high calibre will also be screened based on the prescribed criteria for induction into the Staff Only Stream in the rank of Lt. Gen. Screening of Non-General Cadre in the Rank of Brig. will be as mentioned earlier in Para 6 above."
4. The screening was to be done on the basis of qualitative requirements (QRs) prescribed from time to time. The QRs for Staff Only Stream prescribed for other Arms and Services were as follows :-
"4. In the `Two Stream Concept, it has been proposed by us that in order to utilised the talent and expertise of Non-General Cadre officers, they should also be considered for induction into the `Staff only Stream. The QRs for such induction will be as follows :-
(a) the performance of the officer in Corps appointments should be of a high order and the officer should be considered fit for promotion to the higher rank in his own Arm or Service.
(b) The officer s performance on staff appointments should be of a high order and he should be considered fit in all respects to hold various staff, instructional and ERE appointments in the higher rank.
(c) Based on his qualifications, performance on cour
