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Service Law: All India Service – Appellant was candidate seeking appointment to All India Service pursuant to Civil Services Examination-2006 – She was successful and her name appeared at serial no.20 – Applicant, though an OBC candidate, came on general merit without resorting to the relaxed standard for the candidates belonging to OBC – She was allotted Himachal Pradesh Cadre after the consent of Himachal Pradesh Government – Applicant filed O.A. before CAT (Tribunal) – The grievance of the applicant was that she had a better merit than candidate-Merit No. 26 who was allocated the Maharashtra cadre as an OBC candidate and, therefore, she should have been allocated the Maharashtra cadre – Tribunal directed the Union of India to allot and accommodate the applicant against the outsider OBC vacancy in the Maharashtra Cadre by virtue of her merit over the candidate already identified and allotted the Maharashtra Cadre – The Union and the applicant aggrieved against the said order filed writ petitions before the High Court – High Court held that five admitted deficit vacancies were required to be filled up by following the outsider-insider ratio in the given cycle of 30-point roster, then there would be an insider vacancy, to be given either to the SC/ST or the OBC – Since there was no SC/ST candidate, it had to be filled up by insider OBC, i.e., the applicant – On appeal, held: High Court has completely misread the statutory rules and the policy of allocation of cadre – The Union had prescribed a procedure to be followed in the allotment of cadre to the officers of All India Services on 30.07.1984 – All the cadres/joint cadres were divided into four groups and the 24 States were arranged in alphabetical order – Later, another procedure was circulated on 30/31.05.1985 – It is the said allocation circular which was in force at the time of cadre allocation for the year 2007 – Maharashtra, Manipur-Tripura, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Sikkim fell in Group IIIwhereas Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh fell in Group II – The applicant was allocated to the State of Himachal Pradesh and there was a consent duly given by the State of Himachal Pradesh for her allocation to that State – Therefore, mandate of r.5(1) of the Cadre Rules is satisfied when consultation was made with the State to which allocation was made – Applicant claimed allocation to the State of Kerala, i.e., her home cadre – There were 4 senior candidates in the general category – She was on merit as a general category candidate, having not availed any of the relaxed standards meant for a candidate of OBC category – In terms of proviso to r.7(3) of the Recruitment Rules and the proviso to clause 16(1) in the notification inviting applications for CSE-2006, the candidates including the applicant were put to notice, that SC/ST or OBC candidates will be treated as General Category Candidates who have not availed any concession or relaxation – Applicant was thus rightly treated as General Category candidate – In terms of Clause 16(2) of the CSE-2006 notification, the candidates belonging to the SC/ST or OBC recommended against unreserved vacancies may be adjusted against reserved vacancies by the Government, if by this process they get a service of higher choice in the order of their preference – The applicant was already allocated IAS as there was no question of change of service – Therefore, as a general category candidate, there was no occasion for consultation with State of Kerala as the applicant was not even eligible to be considered for allocation to the said State in terms of the allocation order – The reasoning given by the High Court that there was cadre deficiency, therefore, the applicant was entitled to be allocated is bereft of any merit – High Court exceeded its jurisdiction to order allocation of Kerala Cadre to the applicant without examining the policy decision of the Union to fill up only 89 vacancies – High Court again erred in law that an OBC candidate, who has not availed relaxation or concession, had to be treated as general category candidate – Candidate-Merit No.26 was the first OBC candidate who had availed concessions or relaxations as OBC and was allocated to Maharashtra cadre, being the first State in Group I in the scheme of grouping of States or cadres – Therefore, the applicant had no claim appointment to the Maharashtra cadre – She had no right to the Kerala cadre as well as the second post in the vacancies in the State of Kerala was meant for an OBC outsider candidate – Since Kerala was second last State in Group IV, the OBC candidate at Serial No. 131 was allocated such cadre – Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 – r.5(1). Service Law: All India Service – CSE-2006 – Allocation of home cadre, claimed by OBC candidate, coming on general merit without resorting to the relaxed standard for the candidates belonging to OBC – The notification inviting applications for CSE- 2006 was in terms of r.7 of the Recruitment Rules and also the allocation circular – The proviso to clause 16(1) of the notification contemplates that if an SC/ST or OBC candidate has not availed any concessions or relaxations in the eligibility or selection criteria at any stage of the examination, and if after taking into account the general qualifying standards is found fit for recommendation by the Commission, they shall not be recommended against the vacancies reserved for SC/ST and OBC – It is sub-clause (2) of Clause 16 of CSE-2006 which gives an option to SC/ST or OBC candidate recommended against unreserved vacancies to be adjusted against reserved vacancies, if by this process they get a service of higher choice in order of their preference – Thus, an SC/ST or OBC candidate selected against unreserved vacancy as a general merit candidate cannot make a grievance in respect of allocation of cadre but has a right to seek service as a reserved category candidate if that improves the selection of service – In fact, all the candidates including the applicant were put to notice as to how the cadre allocation would be made – But still, the applicant chose to claim home state though she was not eligible to be considered for such state – She had taken chance in appearing in the selection process but when she was unsuccessful in getting the home cadre, attempts were made to get into the home cadre on wholly untenable grounds – Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 – r.7. Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954: OBC candidate, coming on general merit without resorting to the relaxed standard for the candidates belonging to OBC – Entitlement to OBC reserved seat in her State – Held: r.7(3) of the Recruitment Rules contemplates that the candidate belonging to the SC/ST or OBC found suitable by the Commission for appointment to the service “shall be appointed against unreserved vacancies” in case they qualify for appointment to the service based on their merit without recourse to the benefit of reservation – Such provision in the rule isa consonance with the judgment of this Court in Indra Sawhney and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors. – r.7(4) is to be read as a proviso to r.7(3) of the Recruitment Rules which permits the appointment of candidates of SC/ST or OBC against the vacancies reserved for such candidates “with due regard to the maintenance of efficiency of administration” – Therefore, if a SC/ST or OBC candidate who has been found suitable for appointment against the unreserved vacancies can be appointed against the vacancy reserved for SC/ ST or OBC, provided a conscious decision is taken with regard to the maintenance of efficiency of administration – The applicant though belonging to OBC has not availed any relaxations or concessions admissible to OBC candidates – She was a general merit candidate, thus not entitled to OBC reserved seat in her State – She was allocated to Himachal Pradesh cadre as a general category candidate falling in r.7(3) in view of her merit position as a general category candidate. A Service Jurisprudence: Allotment of cadre is an incidence of service – The applicant as a candidate for the All-India Service with eyes wide open has opted to serve anywhere in the country – Once an applicant gets selected to service, the scramble for the home cadre starts – The procedure for allocation of cadre is a mechanical process and admits no exception except in terms of r.7(4) which is to be read as proviso to r.7(3) – The State has no discretion of allocation of a cadre at its whims and fancies – Therefore, the Tribunal or the High Court should have refrained from interfering with the allocation of cadre on the argument of alleged violation of the allocation circular – Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 – r.7(3) – Service law. |
