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Gurdayal Singh Fiji v. State Of Punjab And Others

Gurdayal Singh Fiji
v.
State Of Punjab And Others

(Supreme Court Of India)

No | 14-10-1981


AMARENDRA NATH SEN, J.

1. Gurdayal Singh Fiji, a member of the Punjab Provincial Civil Service, has presented this writ petition in person and he has argued his own case in person. The main grievance of the Petitioner in this writ petition appears to be against the non-inclusion of his name in the I.A.S. Select List.

2. It is the case of the petitioner that he is one of the senior-most persons in the service with a consistently good record of service on the whole, but because of two adverse remarks by two officers, certificate of integrity has not been given to him. The Petitioner submits that the adverse remarks made against him were mala fide and unjustified and the refusal to grant him a certificate of integrity and not to include his name in the I.A.S. Select List is wrongful and illegal.

3. As this writ petition may be disposed of on a short point, it doe s not become necessary for us to set out at length the various facts and circumstances of this case. The Petitioner has taken us through the records and the various documents filed in support of his case made in the writ petition.

4. In view of the grievance made by the Petitioner as to non-inclusion of his name in the Select List, this Court by an order(l) passed on 9.3.1979 directed the I. A. S. Selection Committee to hold a special meeting to consider the question of inclusion of the name of the Petitioner in the Select List. Pursuant to the order passed by this Court, I.A.S. Selection Committee held a special meeting on the 21.7.1979 and the Selection Committee found the Petitioner to be unsuitable for inclusion in the Select List. It may be noted that the I.A.S. Selection Committee which prepares the Select List is an independent body and recommendations of the I.A.S. Selection Committee further require to be approved by the Union Public Service Commission. The decision taken by the I A.S. Selection Committee at the meeting held on 21.7.1979 pursuant to the order of this Court refusing to include the Petitioner in the Select List was approved by the Union Public Service Commission which agreed with the recommendation. An affidavit has also been filed by Shri D.C. Mishra, Director, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. The averments made in this affidavit go to establish that the cas e of the Petitioner for inclusion in the Select List was properly considered by the Selection Committee on merits As we have earlier noticed, the Selection Committee is an independent body and there is nothing on record to pursuade us to hold that th e decision of the Selection Committee was not properly arrived at on consideration of the merits of the case and was, in any way, otherwise motivated. The Petitioner cannot claim to be included in the Select List as a matter of right. The Select List is prepared by the Selection Committee on consideration of the merits on the basis of suitability of the officer concerned and recommendations made by the Selection Committee have to be approved by the Union Public service Commission.As the Selection Committee has not considered the Petitioner to be suitable to be included in Select List and the Union Public Service Commission has agreed with the recommendation of the Selection Committee, the claim of the Petitioner for inclusion in the select List must fail.

5. There is another aspect of the matter which goes to establish that the case of the Petitioner for inclusion in the Select List cannot now be considered. The Petitioner is now SS years of age an d the age bar in the matter of inclusion in the Select List debars the Petitioner from being included in the Select List. In the result this petition fails and is, therefore, dismissed. There will, however, be no order as to costs.

6. Petition dismissed.

Advocates List

M.S. Dhillon, P.A. Francis, N. Netlar, R.N. Poddar, Jitendra Sharma, P. Caur, Advocates.

For Petitioner
  • Shekhar Naphade
  • Mahesh Agrawal
  • Tarun Dua
For Respondent
  • S. Vani
  • B. Sunita Rao
  • Sushil Kumar Pathak

Bench List

HON'BLE JUSTICE A. N. SEN

HON'BLE JUSTICE Y. V. CHANDRACHUD (CJI)

HON'BLE JUSTICE A. VARADARAJAN

Eq Citation

(1981) 4 SCC 419

[1982] 1 SCR 904

AIR 1981 SC 2015

1981 (13) UJ 882

1981 (3) SCALE 1553

1982 (1) SLR 651

1982 (1) LLN 44

1981 (43) FLR 407

1981 (2) SLJ 457

(1981) SCC (LS) 647

1981 2 LABIC 1600

LQ/SC/1981/400

HeadNote

A. Constitution of India — Arts 14, 16, 309, 311 and 32 — Service matters — Promotion — Non-inclusion of name in Select List for promotion — No right to be included in Select List as a matter of right — Petitioner submitted that he was one of the seniormost persons in service with a consistently good record of service on the whole but because of two adverse remarks by two officers certificate of integrity had not been given to him — Adverse remarks made against petitioner were mala fide and unjustified — Refusal to grant him certificate of integrity and not to include his name in IAS Select List is wrongful and illegal — Petitioner cannot claim to be included in Select List as a matter of right — Select List is prepared by Selection Committee on consideration of merits on basis of suitability of officer concerned and recommendations made by Selection Committee have to be approved by Union Public Service Commission — As Selection Committee has not considered petitioner to be suitable to be included in Select List and Union Public Service Commission has agreed with recommendation of Selection Committee claim of petitioner for inclusion in Select List must fail — Petition dismissed — Service Law — Promotion — Non-inclusion of name in Select List for promotion (Paras 4 and 5) B. Service Law — Promotion — Age bar — Petitioner is now 58 years of age and age bar in matter of inclusion in Select List debars petitioner from being included in Select List — Hence, case of petitioner for inclusion in Select List cannot now be considered (Para 5)