ORDER

1. Special leave granted.

2. The appellant was appointed to the Indian Revenue Service on the basis of the Civil Services Examination held in the year 1989. While in service he took the Indian Civil Services Examination again in the year 1991. He sat in the said examination under the interim orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal and also of this Court. It is not disputed that the appellant has qualified for the Indian Administrative Service and has achieved very high merit being at No. 29 of the merit list. The appellant belongs to the Scheduled Tribe.

3. Rule 4 of the Civil Services Examination Rules, 1986 (the Rules) provides that a candidate, taking the examination, must resign from the service to which he is already appointed. The vires of this rule has been upheld by this Court in Mohan Kumar Singhania v. Union of India {1992 Supp (1) SCC 594}. Since the appellant did not resign from the Indian Revenue Service before taking the Indian Civil Services Examination, 1991 the respondents, taking shelter behind Rule 4 of the Rules, are not permitting the appellant to join the Indian Administrative Service to which he has been selected. Technically no fault can be found wi