IMPORTANT POINT
Writ Petition – When a number of issues/grounds are raised in writ petition, there is duty cast upon High Court to deal with the same and thereafter, to pass a reasoned order.

JUDGMENT :

M.R. Shah, J.

1. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied with the impugned order passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital in WPSB No. 9/2022, by which the High Court has disposed of the said writ petition without deciding the writ petition on merits and has directed the Department to comply with the order passed by the Tribunal which was under challenge before it, the State has preferred the present appeal.

2. Feeling aggrieved with the order passed by the Uttarakhand Public Service Tribunal, Dehradun (for short “Tribunal”) in Claim Petition No.104/DB/2009, by which the Tribunal directed the Department to ignore the uncommunicated “Uttam” entries in the ACRs while considering the case of the original applicant – private respondent herein for his promotion to the post of the Chief Engineer Level-2 by the reviewed ACP, the State of Uttarakhand had preferred the writ petition before the High Court. By the impugned order, the Division Bench of the High Court has disposed of the said writ petition without deciding the writ petition on merits and without expressing anything on the legality and validity of the order passed by the Tribunal and has directed the State to comply with the order passed by the Tribunal by observing that though Tribunal had passed an order on 15th September, 2021, no review ACP has been constituted. There is no discussion at all by the High Court on the merits of the order passed by the Tribunal, which was under challenge before it. The impugned order reads as under:

“The matter is taken up through virtual hearing.

Heard Mr. Pradeep Joshi, learned Standing Counsel for the appellant.

In this case, the petitioner has assailed the order passed by the Uttarakhand Public Service Tribunal, Dehradun in Claim Petition No. 104/DB/2009 directing the opposite party to ignore the uncommunicated ''Uttam” entries in the ACRs while considering the case of the private respondent for his promotion to the post of the Chief Engineer level2 by the reviewed ACP. It is further directed that the respondent-Department may hold the reviewed ACP within three months from the date representation of the certified copy of this order. This Order has been passed on 15th September, 2021 till then no review ACP has been constituted. Let that order passed by the Tribunal be complied within 21 days from today.

With such observation, the writ application is disposed of.”

2.1 From the writ petition produced on record, it appears that the order passed by the Tribunal was challenged on a number of grounds. None of the grounds raised in the writ petition has been dealt with and/or considered by the High Court on merits. There is no discussion at all on any of the grounds raised in the writ petition. The Division Bench of the High Court has disposed of the writ petition in a most cavalier and cursory manner, which is unsustainable. The High Court has disposed of the writ petition without deciding the writ petition on merits and has directed the Department to comply with the order passed by the Tribunal solely by observing that the order has been passed on 15th September, 2021 and till date no review ACP has been constituted. However, the High Court ought to have noted that the order passed by the Tribunal was under challenge before it and therefore, the High Court was required to decide and dispose of the writ petition on merits and consider the legality and correctness of the order passed by the Tribunal.

2.2 The manner in which the High Court has dealt with and disposed of the writ petition without deciding the writ petition on merits cannot be appreciated at all. When a number of issues/grounds were raised in the writ petition, there was the duty cast upon the High Court to deal with the same and thereafter, to pass a reasoned order. In the recent decision in the case of Vishal Ashwin Patel Vs. Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax Circle 25(3) & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 2200/2022), it was observed by this Court that