Back
High Court Of Calcutta
S.C. Ghosh, P.K. Banerjee, JJ.
Union Of India – Appellant
Versus
Durgagati Bhattacharya – Respondent
First Miscellaneous Appeal No. 197 of 1971.
Decided On: March 19, 1971
Whether the Governor acted fairly in selecting the most suitable candidate for the post of Inspector General of Police (I.G.P.) in the background of the situation prevailing in West Bengal.
Fact of the Case:
The Chief Minister of West Bengal forwarded a recommendation to the Government of India recommending the appointment of the petitioner as the I.G.P. In May, 1968, the petitioner was recommended for being appointed as the I.G.P. (Railway Protection Force). By a proclamation issued and published in the Calcutta Gazette on March 20, 1970, the President of India in exercise of the powers conferred by article 356 of the Constitution assumed to himself as President all functions of the Government of West Bengal and all powers vested in or exercisable by the Governor of the said State. The President of India further, after assuming to himself the functions of the Government of West Bengal and all the powers vested in or exercisable by the governor of West Bengal, made an order to the following effect, to wit: "In pursuance of sub-clause (i) of clause (c) of the Proclamation issued on this the 19th day of March, 1970 by me under Article 356 of the Constitution of India. I hereby direct that all the functions of the Government of the state of West Bengal and all the powers vested in or exercisable by the governor of that State under the Constitution or under any law in force in that State which have been assumed by the President of India by virtue of clause (a) of the said proclamation shall subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the President of India be exercisable also by the governor of the said State". The said order was published in the Calcutta Gazette on March 20, 1970. In pursuance of the said proclamation the President of India commenced to govern the State of West Bengal. By a D.O. letter dated August 27, 1970, addressed to the then Chief Secretary to the West Bengal Government, L. P. Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi, suggested to the then Chief Secretary that in the context of law and order situation of the country, officers of proved integrity and competence should be appointed to the office of the Inspector General of Police. Mr. Singh requested the State government to give serious consideration to the suggestion. The State government in reply expressed the opinion that in the background of law and order situation then prevailing in West Bengal, an Officer with drive and initiative should be appointed to the post of inspector General of Police and suggested the name of Shri Gopal Dutt to be appointed as the I. G. P., West Bengal. On receipt of the aforesaid d. O. letter from the then Chief Secretary of West Bengal, L. P. Singh in a note suggested that Shri P. K. Basu might be given an extension and appointed as the inspector General of Police, West Bengal. Shri Singh asked the department for the character rolls of all officers in the I. P. S. in between R. K. Gupta and S. C. Choudhury, the Commissioner of Police and Joint Commissioner of Police, calcutta, Shri Singh also called for the character rolls of sarbashri B. Chatterjee, P. K. Basu and G. C. Dutt. Thereupon B. Venkataraman on or about 16th of October, 1970, forwarded the character rolls of the said three officers as well as of the petitioner, and other officers in the gradation list of I. P. S. officers in between Commissioner of Police, R. K. Gupta and Joint commissioner of Police, Sunil Choudhury to L. P. Singh. In forwarding the same Shri Venkataraman commented in his note as follows : "I have left out the name of Shri Hooja. Among the four Shri p. K. Basu has the best roll and between shri Bhattacharyya, Shri Basu, and shri Dutt he would be the last to retire, though the difference is just marginal. The rolls of these four officers are placed below". The relevant comment in the note submitted by L. P. Singh to the minister of State and the Minister, home Affairs was as follows : "Of the Officers at present serving under the West Bengal Government sri D. G. Bhattacharyya is the senior most. He is at present Additional i. G. P. He was passed over even for the post of Commissioner of Police and he is not certainly good enough for the post of I. G. P. He is to retire in a few months". In his note L. P. Singh suggested that according to him P. K. Basu would be the best choice for the post of i. G. P. West Bengal. This note was placed before the Minister of State for home Affairs as well as Minister in charge of Home Affairs and were signed by them. The said note was signed by l. P. Singh on 16th October, 1970. The minister of State K. C. Pant signed the note on the 17th October, 1970 and the same was signed by the Prime Minister who was also the Home Minister on the 23rd November, 1970. On the 23rd November, 1970, l. P. Singh wrote to the Chief Adviser, governor of West Bengal. The said letter is set out hereunder : "My Dear Ghosh, i am writing to you with reference to s. Mullick's D. O. letter No. 190-CS/70 dated September 24, 1970, and the discussions. I had with you on the subject when you were here last in the third week of November. The matter, however, came up in the course of the discussions which the Governor has had in New Delhi this week. 2. All aspects of the appointment of the next Inspector General of Police have been fully considered and I am now desired to advise that Shri P. K. Basu should be appointed. Yours sincerely, Sd/- L. P. Singh. Shri B. B. Ghosh, principal Adviser to the Governor of West Bengal, Calcutta." Upon receipt of the said letter on the 26th November, 1970, B. B. Ghosh forwarded the same to the Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary on the same date ordered the said letter to be processed. Thereafter on the 27th november, 1970, a note was put up by the Chief Secretary before the Governor for according his approval to the proposal to appoint P. K. Basu as the i. G. P. West Bengal, as advised by the government of India. A draft notification was submitted along with the said note. The Governor approved the said proposal and endorsed his approval on the said note. On 27th November, 1970, a notification appointing P. K. Basu as the I. G. P. West Bengal, with effect from 1st December, 1970, was published in the official gazette.
Issues: 1. Whether the Governor acted fairly in selecting the most suitable candidate for the post of Inspector General of Police (I.G.P.) in the background of the situation prevailing in West Bengal? 2. Whether the advice given by the Central Government contained in the D. O. letter dated 20th November 1970 of L. P. Singh was extraneous or irrelevant matter?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the Governor considered all the relevant matters and was not called upon to formally go into the merits of respective candidates. Therefore, the Court cannot supplant the decision of the Governor by its decision. The Court can only set aside or quash the decision if the decision he arbitrary or capricious. Governor in our opinion had considered the relevant matters and was not called upon to formally go into the merits of respective candidates. 2. The Court held that the advice given by the Central Government contained in the D. O. letter dated 20th November 1970 of L. P. Singh was not extraneous or irrelevant matter. The consideration of the said advice by the Governor did not, therefore, vitiate the selection made by the Governor.
Final Decision: The appeal is allowed and the judgment and order of the learned judge of the Court of first instance are set aside.
1. THIS appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated 21st January, 1971, passed by Sabyasachi Mukherji, J. quashing the order dated 27th November, 1970 appointing the respondent no. 3 as the Inspector General of police, West Bengal. The said order also directed the Union of India and the State of West Bengal to proceed to appoint the Inspector General of police, West Bengal, in accordance with law.
2. THE Union of India, one of the respondents In the proceeding under article 226 of the Constitution in the first Court has filed an appeal against the said judgment and order. The state of West Bengal and Prasad Kumar basu also have jointly filed a separate appeal challenging the said judgment and order of the learned Judge. We propose to dispose of both the appeals by one judgment.
On February 1, 1936, the petitioner was appointed to the service known as Indian Police by the Secretary of State for India. On February 26, 1938, the petitioner was confirmed in the said service. On October 21, 1946, the then Government of India constituted a service known as the Indian Police service. After serving in various capacities, the petitioner was confirmed in the senior scale of Indian Police Service on or about August 15, 1947.
3. ON January 26, 1950, the Constitution of india came into force and by virtue of Article 312 (1) of the said constitution, the Indian Police Service came to be deemed to be one of the services created by the Parliament under the said Article. The petitioner was confirmed in the selection grade of the Indian Police Service on April 28, 1957 On November 9, 1953, the petitioner was promoted to officiate as a deputy Inspector General of Police. On february 18, 1960, the petitioner was confirmed in the post of Deputy Inspector general of Police. Between October 27, 1969, and December, 1969, the petitioner officiated as an Additional inspector General of Police and went on leave from December 23, 1969. On or about April 10, 1970, the petitioner became the Additional Inspector General of Police (Special) which was a special post.
4. UPON the retirement of his predecessor, the petitioner came to occupy the cadre post of Additional inspector General of Police and was confirmed in the said post on November 26, 1970, with retrospective effect from 1st October, 1970.
P. K. Basu was appointed in the provincial Police Service as a Deputy superintendent of Police on or about february 10, 1938. In April, 1944, p. K. Basu was promoted to act as additional Superintendent of Police and was appointed permanently in the indian Police Service on August 15, 1947. On February 24, 1956, P. K. Basu was appointed a Deputy Inspector general of Police and was confirmed as such in March, 1962. With effect from december 1, 1965, P. K. Basu was appointed to the post of Inspector general of Police, Border Security force. The said post is admittedly a non-cadre post. Petitioner is due to retire in July, 1971, and P. K. Basu is due to retire in August, 1971. From december 1, 1965, until he took over the charge as the Inspector General of police, West Bengal, on December 1, 1970, P. K. Basu was the Inspector general of Police, Border Security force. In the Civil List published on 1st July, 1967, containing a list of i. P. S. Officers in order of seniority, petitioner Bhattacharya has been placed 4th and P. K. Basu has been placed 7th in position. The said list was prepared and published in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Police Service (Regulations of Seniority) Rules, 1954, to ascertain the respective seniority of the officers in the cadre.
5. IN June, 1964, the Chief Minister of West Bengal forwarded a recommendation to the government of India recommending the appointment of the petitioner as the Inspector General of police Assam. In May, 1966, the Chief minister of West Bengal again recommended the petitioner for appointment in a post of Inspector General of Police under the Union Government. In May, 1968, the pet
An indispensable Tool for Legal Professionals, Endorsed by Various High Court and Judicial Officers
Please visit our Training & Support
Center or Contact Us for assistance
Scan Me!
India’s Legal research and Law Firm App, Download now!
For Daily Legal Updates, Join us on :
Back to top
