Full Judgment Text
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PETITIONER:
DAYARAM ASANAND GURSAHANI
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND OTHERS
DATE OF JUDGMENT22/02/1984
BENCH:
VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J)
BENCH:
VENKATARAMIAH, E.S. (J)
REDDY, O. CHINNAPPA (J)
MISRA, R.B. (J)
CITATION:
1984 AIR 850 1984 SCR (2) 703
1984 SCC (3) 36 1984 SCALE (1)316
ACT:
Bombay Judicial Service Recruitment Rules 1956, Sub
clause (b) of clause (i) of Sub rule (2) of Rule 5, scope
of-Seniority-For the purposes of seniority in the cadre of
District Judges, whether the period during which one had
worked as an Assistant Judge could be reckoned-Right to be
posted as an Inspecting Judge and Entitlement to the salary
and allowances in the selection grade-Selection Grade,
whether a separate grade.
HEADNOTE:
The judicial service of the State of Maharashtra
consists of two branches namely, (i) the Junior Branch and
(ii) the Senior Branch, The Junior Branch consists of the
following Class I Officers-(i) Judges of the Small Causes
Courts at places other than Bombay, (ii) Civil Judges
(Senior Division), (iii) Judges of the Small Causes Courts
at Bombay and Metropolitan Magistrates and (iv) Civil Judges
(Junior Division) and Judicial Magistrates of the First
Class. The Senior Branch consists of (i) District Judges,
(ii) the Principal Judge and Judges of Bombay City Civil
Court, (iii) the Chief Judge and the Addl. Chief Judge of
the Small Causes Court, Bombay (iv) the Chief Presidency
Magistrate and the Additional Chief Presidency Magistrate,
Bombay, and (v) the Assistant Judges. There is no separate
cadre of selection grade District Judges or of Inspecting
District Judges referred to in the Rules which are framed
under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution. The
scale of pay of District Judges prior to July 1, 1962 was
Rs. 900-50-1000-60-1600-50-1800.
On the recommendation of the High Court, the State
Government passed two resolutions one on 21-10-1963 and
another on July 20, 1974 sanctioning one post under the
former with effect from 1-7-62 and five posts under the
latter with effect from 1st August 1974 of District Judges
in the Selection Grade of Rs. 900-100-2000, which is
specifically stated to be a part of the pay scale of Rs.
900-1800 applicable to the cadre of District Judges.
Consequent upon the revision of Pay scales
704
of officers of the cadre of the Indian Administrative
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Service the State Government modified the pay scale of the
selection grade District Judges with effect from January, 1,
1973 by the resolution dated August 21, 1975 revising the
Selection Grade Pay scale to one of 2000-125-2250. By its
earlier Resolution dated 23-9-1969, the Government also
sanctioned five temporary posts of District Judges in the
same scale of Rs. 900-1800 for inspection of subordinate
Courts and tackling the problem of corruption. The High
Court had laid down certain guidelines for posting a
District Judge as an Inspecting District Judge and they are
(i) that the District Judge should have put in at least
three years as District Judge and should have worked as such
in any of the districts, (ii) that his administrative
capacity should be relatively high and (iii) that he should
have a reasonable length of service ahead of him as a
District Judge till his retirement.
The appellant was enrolled as an Advocate on December
14, 1951. In response to the Notification inviting
applications for the purpose of recruiting member of the Bar
directly as District Judges under Rule 5(2) (1) (b) of the
Rules, the appellant applied for one of the posts and was
also successful in getting selected and appointed as an
Assistant Judge by notification issued on 2-1-1967. On
February 19, 1973, the appellant was appointed to officiate
in the cadre of District Judges and later confirmed as a
District Judge with effect from August, 1, 1975. The
seniority of the appellant was fixed on the basis of his
actual appointment as District Judge in April 1973.
The appellant filed a writ petition under Article 226
of the constitution contending: (1) that he was entitled to
reckon for purposes of his seniority in the cadre of
District Judges the period during which he worked as an
Assistant Judge in accordance with the proviso to sub
clauses (b) of clause (i) of sub rule (2) of Rule 5 of the
Bombay Judicial Recruitment Rules, 1956, and (ii) that he
was entitled to get the salary and allowances in the
Selection grade scale or to be posted as an Inspecting
Judge. Both the contentions were negatived by the High Court
and hence the appeal by special leave of the Court.
Allowing the appeal in part, the Court,
^
HELD 1. Due to laches and absence of satisfactory
explanation for the delay of nearly nine years, the question
of the correctness of the seniority assigned to the
petitioner appellant in the year 1973 cannot be looked into.
[708 F]
2.1. The appellant is entitled to the pay in the
selection grade pay scale from ’the date on which the
immediate Junior (seniority being counted on the length of
705
continuous officiation in the cadre of District Judges)
commenced to draw salary in the selection grade pay scale.
He is also entitled to all other consequential relief
flowing therefrom. [718 C-D]
2.2. The two Resolutions of the Government sanctioning
six posts of selection grade District Judges did not
indicate that there was any process of promotion by
selection or otherwise from the cadre of District Judges to
the cadre of selection grade District Judges involved while
sanctioning the selection grade pay scale. There was no
question of even crossing the efficiency bar. The said
selection grade scale was sanctioned only to mitigate the
hardship caused by stagnation at the highest level of the
original pay scale i.e. Rs. 1800. It was just a time scale
and an extension or projection of the pay-scale of Rs. 900-
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1800 applicable to the cadre of District Judges but confined
to six persons in all. The sanctioning of selection grade
pay scale for District Judges has nothing to do with the
creation of the posts of Inspecting District Judges either.
The true legal position is that the first six persons in the
seniority list of judges based on the length of continuous
officiation in the cadre of District Judges can only be
recipients of salary in the selection grade pay scale, there
being only six such selection grade sanctioned. [710 G-H,
711 A-B]
2.3. When it is held that the selection grade District
Judges do not constitute a separate cadre, the High Court
cannot in exercise of its general powers of control under
Article 235 of the Constitution withhold the increment
beyond Rs. 1800 in the selection grade pay scale unless
there is a rule or an executive instruction which authorises
it to do so. The selection grade post is not a post to which
promotion has to be made nor is there any efficiency bar
rule attached to it. Further it is not shown that the
Governor had issued any executive instructions, enabling the
High Court to withheld increments in the extended pay scale
which is in this case called as election grade pay scale.
The pay scale to which a judicial officer is entitled is a
condition of service which can be regulated by a statute or
rules made under the proviso to Article 309 or by executive
instructions issued under Article 162 of the Constitution.
It cannot come within the range of the expression ’control’
in Article 235 of the Constitution. It is only where there
is such a law, rule or executive instruction, the High Court
may act under Article 235 of the Constitution to sanction it
or to refuse to sanction it. [717 C-F]
In the present case the mere nomenclature given to the
extended pay scale as the selection grade pay scale does not
lead to the inference that there is an element of selection
involved in sanctioning it. In the circumstances it should
be treated as just an extended pay scale which forms part of
the pay scale of Rs. 900-1800 as clarified in the two
Government orders sanctioning the selection grade posts. The
refusal on the part of the High Court to Sanction the
selection grade pay scale to the
706
appellant when it became due automatically on the ground
that he was not found fit to be sanctioned that scale of pay
is erroneous. [717 G-H 718 A]
Sant Ram Sharma v. State of Rajasthan & Anr. [1968] 1
S.C.R. 111; Lalit Mohan Deb & others v. Union of India &
Others AIR 1972 SC 951 B.S. Yadav & Others etc. v. State of
Haryana & others etc. [1981] I S.C.R. 1024 referred to.
3.1. The High Court had not created any new cadre of
Inspecting District Judges and that it was only for the
purpose of facilitating a brief and easy reference to such
officers as were doing inspection work under a scheme
evolved by the High Court for maintaining the efficiency of
the Judicial Service that they were being referred to in
common parlance as Inspecting District Judges. No rule was
evolved by the High Court to the effect that either the
senior most Judges or those promoted by selection to that
cadre should be posted as Inspecting District Judges. Taking
the these guidelines together, it is possible to post any
District Judge who satisfies the three conditions as an
Inspecting District Judge even though there may be many
District Judges who are senior to him and who also satisfy
the above conditions. Since admittedly the posts of
Inspecting District Judges do not constitute a separate
cadre superior to the cadre of District Judges, no person
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posted as an Inspecting District Judge can claim seniority
over a District Judge who is not holding such a post on that
ground alone. [712 E-H]
3.2. The High Court in the Judgment under appeal has
committed an error in virtually treating the Inspecting
District Judge as equivalent to selection grade District
Judges. The creation of the posts of five Inspecting
District Judges had nothing to do with the sanctioning of
selection grade pay scale for District Judges. While the
selection grade pay scale was sanctioned for six posts of
District Judges by the two Government Resolutions dated
October 21, 1963 and July 20, 1974, the five posts of
Inspecting District Judges were created by the Government
Resolution dated September 23, 1969. These five posts were
not posts with the selection grade pay scale which had
already been brought into force by the Government Resolution
of October 21, 1963. It could not also have been the
intention of the High Court as well as of the Government at
the time of the creation of these posts of Inspecting
District Judges that the five senior-most District and
sessions Judges in the State should instead of disposing of
important judicial work be engaged in inspecting a minimum
of 35 courts during a year, in writing reports and in
carrying out other administrative work which would leave
very little time to engage themselves in judicial work. That
is also clear from the guidelines laid down for the posting
of an officer as an Inspecting Judge which could be easily
satisfied by younger and active members working in the cadre
of District Judges. [714 F, 715 H, 716 C-D]
3.3. The High Court also overlooked that the specific
case of the High Court being that no separate cadre of
Inspecting District Judges had been created, there
707
could be no occasion to consider the case of the appellant
or any other District Judge for such promotion. The
selection grade District Judges are only those who draw pay
in pay scale of Rs. 1800-100-2000 for which no promotion is
contemplated and that mere posting as an Inspecting District
Judge by itself does not make an officer so posed superior
to other District Judges. The true legal position is that
while the first six persons in the seniority list of
District Judges based on the length of continuous
officiation in the cadre of District Judges can be
recipients of salary in the selection grade pay scale, the
posts of Inspecting District Judges and of the Registrar
need not necessarily be held by them. Therefore, the
question whether the appellant can be posted as an
Inspecting District Judge is within the discretion of the
High Court only. [716 F-H, 717 A-B, H]
JUDGMENT:
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 435 of
1983.
Appeal by Special leave from the Judgment and Order
dated the 30th July, 1982 of the Bombay High Court in writ
petition No. 63 of 1982.
Dayaram Asanand Gursahani Appellant in person.
A. V. Sawant, M. N. Shroff, S. M. Shah and P. Sankara
Narayana for the Respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
VENKATARAMIAH, J, The two questions urged in this
appeal filed against the judgment of the High Court of
Bombay are whether the appellant is entitled to reckon for
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purposes of his seniority in the cadre of District Judges
the period during which he had worked as an Assistant Judge
in accordance with the proviso to sub-clause (b) of clause
(i) of sub-Rule (2) of Rule 5 of the Bombay Judicial Service
Recruitment Rules, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as ’the
Rules’) and whether the appellant is entitled to get the
salary and allowances in
708
the selection grade scale or to be posted as an Inspecting
Judge. Both the contentions were negatived by the High Court
in a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the
Constitution. This appeal by special leave is preferred
against the judgment of the High Court.
The appellant was enrolled as an advocate on December
14, 1951. In response to a notification inviting
applications for the purpose of recruiting members of the
Bar directly as District Judges under Rule 5 (2) (i) (b) of
the Rules, the appellant made an application for considering
his case also for recruitment as a District Judge.
Ultimately five persons were selected and appointed as
Assistant Judges by notification issued on January 2, 1967
and the appellant was one of them. All of them were first
posted as Assistant Judges as per the proviso to Rule 5 (2)
(i) (b) of the Rules. On February 19, 1973, the appellant
was appointed to officiate in the cadre of District-Judges.
He was confirmed as a District Judge with effect from August
1, 1975 as per notification No. A 1274/75 dated December
9,1975. The seniority of the appellant in the cadre of
District Judges was fixed on the basis of his actual
appointment as District Judge in April, 1973. The first
contention of the appellant is that on a true construction
of Rule 5 (2) (i) (b) of the Rules, he should be deemed to
have entered the cadre of District Judges when he was
initially recruited as a District Judge and posted as an
Assistant Judge under the proviso to Rule 5(2) (i) (b) of
the Rules. This claim of the appellant has been rejected by
the High Court. We do not propose to consider this
contention on the ground of laches as we do not find any
satisfactory explanation for the delay of nearly nine years
on the part of the appellant in questioning the correctness
of the seniority assigned to him in the year 1973.
We shall, however, confine this appeal to the second
question namely, whether the appellant is entitled to the
salary and allowances said to be payable to District Judges
in the selection grade. In order to decide the above
question, it is necessary to deal with the constitution of
the Judicial Service in the State of Maharashtra. The
Judicial Service of the State of Maharashtra consists of two
branches namely, (i) the Junior Branch and (ii) the Senior
Branch. The Junior Branch consists of the following Class I
Officers-(i) Judges of the Small Causes Courts at places
other than Bombay, (ii) Civil Judges (Senior Division),
(iii) Judges of the Small Causes Court at Bombay
709
and Metropolitan Magistrates and (iv) Civil Judges (Junior
Division) and Judicial Magistrates of the First Class. The
Senior Branch consists of (i) District Judges, (ii) the
Principal Judge and Judges of the Bombay City Civil Court,
(iii) the Chief Judge and the Addl. Chief Judge of the Small
Causes Court, Bombay, (iv) the Chief Presidency Magistrate
and the Additional Chief Presidency Magistrate, Bombay and
(v) the Assistant Judges. The Metropolitan Magistrate,
Juvenile Court, Bombay is also a member of the Maharashtra
Judicial Service. Rule 4 of the Rules provides for the
method of appointment to the post in the Junior Branch
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including Metropolitan Magistrates, Juvenile Court, Bombay,
Rule 5 of the Rules deals with the method of recruitment to
the Senior Branch.
Sub-rule (2) of Rule 5 of the Rules relates to the
recruitment to the cadre of District Judges and Judges of
the Bombay City Civil Court. It reads:
"5,(2) District Judges and Judges of the Bombay City
Civil Court.
(i) District Judges.-Appointments to the posts of
District Judges shall be made by the Governor-
(a) in consultation with the High Court by
promotion from the members of the Junior Branch who
have ordinarily served as Assistant Judges, and
(b) on the recommendation of the High Court from
members of the Bar who have practised as Advocates or
Pleaders for not less than seven years in the High
Court, or Courts subordinate thereto:
Provided that persons recruited at the age of not
more than forty-five years, fifty years in the case of
a person belonging to a community recognised as
backward by Government for the purposes of recruitment
shall first be appointed to
710
work as Assistant Judge for such period as may be
decided by Government on the merits of his case on the
recommendations of the High Court before he is
appointed as a District Judge:
Provided further that ordinarily the proportion of
posts filled in by promotion, under clause (a) and
those by appointment from members of the Bar under
clause (b) shall be 50: 50."
It may be noted here that there is no separate cadre of
selection grade District Judges or of Inspecting District
Judges referred to in the Rules which are framed under the
proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution. The scale of pay
of District Judges prior to July 1, 1962 was Rs. 900-50-
1000-60-1600-50-1800.
On October 21, 1963 on the recommendation of the High
Court, the State Government passed a resolution, the
relevant part of which reads as follows:
"Resolution: Government is pleased to sanction one
post of District Judge in the Selection Grade of Rs.
1800-100-2000 in the cadre of District Judges with
effect from the Ist July, 1962. As the Selection Grade
is the part of the pay scale of Rs. 900-50-1000-60-
1600-50-1800, applicable to the cadre of District
Judges, an officer drawing pay in this grade shall also
be entitled to the special pay, if any, attached to the
post held by him, subject to the condition that pay
plus special pay does not exceed Rs. 2000/-." (emphasis
added)
The resolution set out above only stated that one
District Judge in the selection grade will draw salary in
the scale of Rs. 1800-100-2000 with effect from July 1,
1962. It also stated that this scale was a part of the pay
scale of Rs. 900-50-1000-60-1600-50-1800 applicable to the
cadre of District Judges. It did not indicate that there was
any process of promotion by selection or otherwise from the
cadre of District Judges to the cadre of selection grade
District Judges
711
involved while sanctioning the selection grade pay scale.
There was no question of even crossing the efficiency bar.
It appears that the said selection grade scale was
sanctioned only to mitigate the hardship caused by
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stagnation at the highest level of the original pay scale
i.e. at Rs. 1800. It was just a time-scale and an extension
or projection of the pay scale of Rs. 900-1800 applicable to
the cadre of District Judges but confined to one person. The
above resolution was followed by another resolution of the
State Government dated July 20, 1974, the material part of
which read as follows:
"Resolution: Government is pleased to sanction
five additional posts of District Judges in the
selection grade of Rs. 1800-100-2000 in the cadre of
District Judges with effect from the Ist August, 1974.
As the Selection Grade is the part of the pay scale of
Rs. 900-50-1000-60-1600-50-1800, applicable to the
cadre of District Judges, an officer drawing pay in
this grade shall also be entitled to the special pay,
if any, attached to the post held by him, subject to
the condition, that pay plus special pay does not
exceed Rs. 2000." (Emphasis added)
This resolution was worded in the same manner as the
earlier one but the number of selection grade posts was
increased by five. Thus there were in all six posts of
selection grade District Judges who could draw salary at the
pay scale attached to it.
Consequent upon the revision of pay scales of officers
of the cadre of the Indian Administrative Service the State
Government modified the pay scale of the selection grade
District Judges with effect from January 1, 1973 by the
resolution dated August 21, 1975, the relevant part of which
reads thus:
"Resolution: Government is pleased to direct that
the revised Selection Grade I.A.S. pay scale of Rs.
2000-125/2-2250 should be made applicable to the
Selection Grade District Judges with effect from 1-1-
1973.
712
2. Government is also pleased to direct that
District Judges in the Selection Grade posts, should be
allowed to draw special pay, if any, attached to the
post held by them, subject to the condition that pay
plus special pay does not exceed Rs. 2450/-."
There was, however, no other alteration in the
conditions of service relevant to the subject of selection
grade District Judges.
In so far as the Inspecting District Judges are
concerned, it is seen that the specific case of the High
Court as set out in the affidavit of Shri Makarend Shankar
Vaidya, Additional Registrar (Inspection). High Court of
Bombay is that the High Court had not created any new cadre
of Inspecting District Judges and that it was only for the
purpose of facilitating a brief and easy reference to such
officers as were doing inspection work under a scheme
evolved by the High Court for maintaining the efficiency of
the Judicial service that they were being referred to in
common parlance as Inspecting District Judges. No rule was
evolved by the High Court to the effect that either the
senior most Judges or those promoted by selection to that
cadre should be posted as Inspecting District Judges. It is,
however, stated by the deponent of this affidavit that the
High Court had laid down certain guidelines for posting a
District Judge as an Inspecting District Judge and they are
(i) that the District Judge should have put in at least
three years as District Judge and should have worked as such
in any of the districts,(ii) that his administrative
capacity should be relatively high and (iii) that he should
have a reasonable length of service ahead of him as a
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District Judge till his retirement. Taking all these
guidelines together, it is possible to post any District
Judge who satisfies the three conditions as an Inspecting
District Judge even though there may be many District Judges
who are senior to him and who also satisfy the above
conditions. Since admittedly the posts of Inspecting
District the Judges do not constitute a separate cadre
superior to the cadre of District Judges, no person posted
as an Inspecting District Judge can claim seniority over a
District Judge who is not holding such a post on that ground
alone. This is also manifest from the statement in paragraph
52 of the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the High
Court (respondent No. 2) which reads thus:
713
"I say that it is false to say that the respondent
No. 2 has created an erroneous impression in the cadres
of the judiciary, public and litigants that District
Judges appointed under the scheme of inspection of
courts are superior to other District Judges and this
has caused insecurity in the minds of District Judges."
On the above question, the High Court has observed in
its judgment under appeal thus:
"Government of Maharashtra, in law and Judiciary
Department Resolution dated 23rd September, 1969 and
the earlier the Resolution dated 21st October, 1963 had
sanctioned the posts of District Judges in the
Selection Grade. By the same Resolution additional
posts of Joint Judges Were also sanctioned. It appears
from the affidavit filed by the respondents that
scheme for conducting the surprise inspection of the
courts in the State outside the Greater Bombay was
introduced in the year 1969 with the following objects.
"1. Prevention, detection and rooting out the
corruption from courts and their administrative
offices
2. Enforcement of discipline and punctuality among
Judges and staff and generally ensuring that the
allocated work both judicial and administrative is
efficiently done and delay in disposal is
eliminated.
3. Ensuring strict observance of civil and criminal
manuals.
4. Checking of registers and accounts and ensuring
that they are properly and punctually maintained,
and
714
5. Ensuring the welfare of Judges and the staff
including the provision of suitable healthy and
sanitary conditions in courts, adequate housing
accommodation for the Judges and the staff, and
generally towards providing conditions of service
with in our limitations."
As part of this scheme Judicial officers posted as
District Judges at Pune, Thane Aurangabad, Akola and
Nagpur are entrusted with the work of surprise
inspection of courts. Each of these District Judges is
expected to carry out surprise inspection work in 5
districts. He is expected to carry out the surprise
inspection of at least 35 courts in a year and submit
his inspection notes to the High Court. These
inspection notes are scrutinised by the High Court and
decisions on these inspection notes are also taken by
the High Court. Regular inspection work is carried out
by the District Judge concerned. From the affidavit
filed by the Additional Registrar (Inspection) of the
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High Court, it is further clear that no new cadre or
posts of Inspecting District Judge are created. Though
in a common paralance they are called Inspecting
District Judges they are merely District Judges doing
the work of surprise Inspection."
Having held thus, the High Court committed an error in
virtually treating the Inspecting District Judges as
equivalent to selection grades District Judges as the
following observations made by it in paragraph 11 of its
judgment:
"As to how the District Judges are selected for
doing this inspection work is also explained by the
respondents in their affidavits. From the submission
made in the affidavits it is quite clear that
guidelines have been laid down for selecting the
District Judges working under the scheme of Inspection
of the Courts. While selecting a person guidelines kept
in view are (i) that the District Judges should have
put in at least
715
3 years as District Judge, and should have worked as
such in any of the districts, (2) that his
administrative capacity should be relatively high and
(3) that he should have reasonably long service ahead
as Judge till his retirement. It is also clarified in
the affidavit that these guidelines necessarily imply
his competence in judicial work and also his general
performance. The assessment of relatively high
administrative capacity in particular implies in the
context his aptitude for inspection work, his attitudes
towards the bar, litigants, judicial officers and staff
working in the inspecting courts. It is also submitted
that while assessing the eligibility of a person with
reference to these guidelines, the cases of judicial
officers have been considered all along in the order of
seniority of the person in the cadre of District
Judges. Since no separate cadre is created of judicial
officers who are asked to do the work of inspection
under the scheme, no separate rules are framed, but
guidelines are laid down by the High Court. Similarly
guidelines are laid down for awarding the selection
grade to the District Judges and, normally all the 5
Inspecting District Judges and the Registrar are placed
in the cadre of Selection Grade District Judges unless
there are compelling reasons to the contrary. It is
then stated in the affidavit of the respondents that
the petitioner’s case was considered on four occasions
between 1979 to 1981 for being assigned this inspection
work and for being placed in the selection grade but he
has not been found suitable."
The infirmities noticeable in the above passage are
these: The High Court has failed to notice that the creation
of the posts of five Inspecting District Judges had nothing
to do with the sanctioning of selection grade pay scale for
District Judges. While the selection grade pay scale was
sanctioned for six posts of District Judges by the two
Government Resolutions dated October 21, 1963 and July 20,
1974, the five posts of Inspecting District Judges were
created by the Government resolution dated September 23.
1969. the relevant part of which read thus:
"Resolution: Government is pleased to direct that
716
five temporary posts of District Judges in the scale of
Rs. 900-50-1000-60-1600-50-1800 should be created for a
period of upto the 28th February, 1970 for inspection
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of subordinate courts and tackling the problem of
corruption."
These five posts were not posts with the selection
grade pay scale which had already been brought into force by
the Government Resolution of October 21, 1963. It could not
also have been the intention of the High Court as well as of
the Government at the time of the creation or these posts of
Inspecting District Judges that the five senior most
District and Sessions Judges in the State in should instead
of disposing of important judicial work be engaged in
inspecting a minimum of 35 courts during a year, in writing
reports and in carrying out other administrative work which
would leave very little time to engage themselves in
judicial work. That is also clear from the guideline laid
down for the posting of an officers as an Inspecting Judge
which could be easily satisfied by younger and active
members working in the cadre of District Judges.
The High Court also overlooked that the specific case
of the High Court being that no separate cadre of Inspecting
District Judges had been created, there could be no occasion
to consider the case of the appellant or any other District
Judge for such promotion. The observations that since no
separate cadre is created of judicial officers who are asked
to do the work of inspection under the scheme, no separate
rules are framed but guidelines, are laid down by the High
Court. Similarly guidelines are laid down by for awarding
the selection grade to the District Judge and normally all
the 5 Inspecting District Judges and the Registrar are
placed in the cadre of selection grade District Judges
unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary" in the
above passage are again out of place. The above conclusion
would have been possible only on proof of the following
facts viz. (1) that the selection grade District Judges and
the Inspecting District Judges belong to the same cadre and
(2) that they belonged to a cadre higher than the cadre of
District Judges or that there was a need for going through
the process of selection to sanction selection grade pay
scale. We have already shown that the selection grade
District Judges are only those who draw pay in pay scale of
Rs. 1800-100-2000 for which no promotion
717
is contemplated and that mere posting as an Inspecting
District Judge by itself does not make an officer so posted
superior to other District Judges. The true legal position
is that while the first six persons in the seniority list of
District Judges based on the length of continuous
officiation in the cadre of District Judges can be
recipients of salary in the selection grade pay scale, the
posts of Inspecting District Judges and of the Registrar
need not necessarily be held by them.
When it is held that the selection grade District
Judges do not constitute a separate cadre, the High Court
cannot in exercise of its general powers of control under
Article 235 of the Constitution without the increment beyond
Rs. 1800 in the selection grade pay scale unless there is a
rule or an executive instruction which authorises it to do
so. As mentioned earlier, the selection grade post is not a
post to which promotion has to be made nor is there any
efficiency bar rule attached to it. Further it is not shown
that the Governor had issued any executive instructions as
it had been done in Sant Ram Sharma v. State of Rajasthan &
Anr.(’) and in Lalit Mohan Deb & Ors. v. Union of India &
Ors.(2) enabling the High Court to withhold increments in
the extended pay scale which is in this case called as
selection grade pay scale. The pay scale to which a judicial
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officer is entitled is a condition of service which can be
regulated by a statute or rules made under the proviso to
Article 309 or by executive instructions issued under
Article 162 of the Constitution. It cannot come within the
range of the expression. ’control’ in Article 235 of the
Constitution. (See B.S. Yadav & Ors. etc. v. State of
Haryana & Ors, etc,(3)) It is only where there is such a
law, rule or executive instruction, the High Court may act
under Article 235 of the Constitution to sanction it or to
refuse to sanction it. We are of the view that in the
present case the mere nomenclature given to the extended pay
scale as the selection grade pay scale does not lead to the
inference that there is an element of selection involved in
sanctioning it. In the circumstances it should be treated as
just an extended pay scale which forms part of the pay scale
of Rs. 900-1800 as clarified in two Government orders
sanctioning the selection grade posts. In view of the
foregoing while the question whether the appellant can be
posted as an Inspecting District Judge is within the
discretion of the High Court, the refusal on the
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part of the High Court to sanction the selection grade pay
scale to the appellant when it become due automatically on
the ground that he was not found fit to be sanctioned that
scale of pay is erroneous. In view of what has been stated
above, we need not go into the other points raised by the
appellant regarding the above question.
In the result the judgment of the High Court is set.
aside in so far as the question of sanctioning of the
selection grade pay scale to the appellant is concerned. It
is hereby declared that the appellant is entitled to the pay
in the selection grade pay scale from the date on which his
immediate junior (seniority being counted on the length of
continuous officiation in the cadre of District Judges)
commenced to draw salary in the selection grade pay scale.
He is also entitled to all other consequential reliefs
flowing therefrom. A writ shall issue in the above terms.
The appeal is accordingly allowed in part. No costs.
S.R. Appeal partly allowed.
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