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1956 Supreme(Ker) 64
Judges : KOSHI,M.S.MENON
K.V.Varghese - Appellant
Versus
State - Respondent
Case No : O. P. No. 348 of 1955
Decided On : 07/04/1956
Advocates Appeared :
T. K. Narayana Pillai; D. Narayanan Potti; For Petitioner V. Rama Shenoi; For 1st Respondent M. Madhavan Nair; P. E. Sukumaran Kartha; For Respondents 2,3 & 8 A. Madhava Prabhu; For 4th Respondent K.K. Madhavan; For 5th Respondent S. Narayanan Potti; For 7th Respondent
The judgment clarified the distinction between administrative orders and rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution, emphasizing that Ext. B did not embody a set of rules framed under the proviso to Art.309.
Headnote:
Art.309 - Conditions of Service - Ext. B - Summary of the acts and sections referenced and discussed by the court: The court discussed the scope, character, and effect of Ext. B, which constituted rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution. The court also considered the contentions of the State in relation to Art.309 and the form in which the Government issues rules. The judgment highlighted the distinction between administrative orders and rules framed under the proviso to Art.309, emphasizing that Ext. B did not embody a set of rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a clerk in the Excise Department, contested his rank among officiating Assistant Sales Tax Officers based on Ext. B, an order of the Government dated 6th July 1954. The petitioner filed an appeal, which was rejected by Ext. D dated 6th September 1955.
Finding of the Court:
The court dismissed the petition, stating that Ext. B did not embody a set of rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution. It also rejected the contention that a quasi-judicial authority was set up or that the Government functioned in a quasi-judicial capacity while dealing with appeals under Para.13.
Issues: The main issue was the scope, character, and effect of Ext. B, and whether it constituted rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution. The court also considered the contentions of the State in relation to Art.309 and the form in which the Government issues rules.
Ratio Decidendi: The judgment emphasized the distinction between administrative orders and rules framed under the proviso to Art.309, highlighting that Ext. B did not embody a set of rules framed under the proviso to Art.309 of the Constitution. It also clarified that a quasi-judicial authority was not set up, and the Government did not function in a quasi-judicial capacity while dealing with appeals under Para.13.
Final Decision: The petition was dismissed without any order as to costs.
1. The petitioner was a clerk in the Excise Department of the Travancore State. He is at present an officiating Assistant Sales Tax Officer in the service of the Government of Travancore-Cochin. The history of his service till the date of Ext. A (6.7.1954) is sketched as follows in Para.7 to 11 of the affidavit in support of the petition:
7. I was originally an employee in the Excise Department of the then Travancore State. While I was a clerk in that department in the scale of pay of Rs. 45-75 getting Rs. 65 as pay I was appointed as Assistant Sales Tax Officer of the Sales Tax Department of the Travancore State in the same scale of pay viz., 45-75 as per G.O. Roc. 3495/49 Devpt. dated 19th May 1949. I took charge on 18.10.1124, corresponding to 31.5.1949.
8. On 1.4.1950, I was promoted to the scale of pay of Rs. 80-100, in the same Department.
9. While I was acting in the above grade the Agrl. Income-tax and Sale-tax Department of the Travancore-Cochin State was brought into being. This was on 12.5.1950.
10. On 7.7.1951 1 was promoted to the scale of Rs. 100-125 in the same post in the same department. Subsequently I was promoted as Manager in the office of the Deputy Commissioner of the Agricultural Income-tax and Sales-tax at Trivandrum and this was in the scale of Rs. 125-150.
11. Thereafter, I was appointed as acting Sales-tax Officer in the scale of Rs. 125-175 and while I was acting as Sales-Tax Officer at Alwaye the order of integration of services in the Agricultural Income-Tax and Sales-Tax Department of the State viz., the above Ext. B was passed and my rank was fixed in the list Ext. A".
2. Ext. A is the list attached to Ext. B an order of the Government dated the 6th July 1954. In that list the petitioner is ranked as the 16th among the officiating Assistant Sales Tax Officers on the scale of Rs. 100-125. According to him he should be not the 16th but the 6th or in other words, respondents 2 to 11 should not have been ranked above him as has been done in Ext. A.
3. The petitioner's contention that he should be the 6th in rank among the officiating Assistant Sales Tax Officers (and not the 16th) is based on the provisions of Ext. B. The full text of the said order is hereunder reproduced:
"Government of Travancore-Cochin Proceedings
Chief Secretariat-Integration Section
Integration of Services-Agricultural Income-tax and Sales-tax Department. Read: (1) G.P. SR (1) 4611/49/RD dated 12.5.1950
(2) G.M.SR (2) 10591/51/RD dated 20.12.1952.
Government have carefully considered the problems connected with the integration of the services personnel of the Agrl. Income-tax and Sales-tax Department and they are pleased to issue the following orders on the subject:
Prior to the integration of the States there was a separate Sales-tax Department in Travancore. But in Cochin the Income-tax Department was attending to Sales-tax work also. There was no agricultural income-tax work as such in Cochin whereas in Travancore tax on Agrl. income was also being levied and the work was being attended to by the Income-tax Department of the State. After the integration of the States however, Agrl. Income-tax and Sales-tax were brought under one Department newly created as per G.P. SR 1-4611/49/RD dated 12.5.1950. The Agrl. Income-tax and Sales-tax Department thus came into existence only from 12.5.1950, when persons from several Departments in both branches of service including those from the former Sales-tax Department of Travancore, were drafted into it. Since the organisation of the Department on 12.5.1950, many changes have been effected from time to time by upgrading existing posts or sanctioning additional posts. Government have also issued orders making the Department permanent with effect from 1.4.1952.
Integration and preparation of a combined gradation list.
The question of preparing a combined civil and gradation list for the entire Department has been engaging the attention of Government for some time. After a careful considerati
