Recruitment rules and Article 16 bar appointment claims based on unauthorised relaxation and descent-based preference.

The recruitment rules governing constable appointments were held to be fully occupied by the Delhi Police (Appointment and Recruitment) Rules, 1980, so the earlier Punjab Police Rules no longer applied to that subject. Relaxation under the new regime vested in the Administrator, not the Deputy Commissioner of Police, and a relaxation order issued without such authority could not create an enforceable right to appointment. Preference for sons or wards of police personnel was also found inconsistent with Article 16 because public employment cannot be based on descent alone. The claim for appointment therefore failed.

---

---

Issues: Whether the appellants could claim appointment as constables on the basis of a relaxation order issued by an not empowered under the applicable recruitment rules, reliance on the earlier Punjab Police Rules after the Delhi Police (Appointment and Recruitment) Rules, 1980 came into force, and a preference for sons or wards of police personnel.

Analysis: The applicable recruitment field was occupied by the Delhi Police (Appointment and Recruitment) Rules, 1980, and the earlier Punjab Police Rules relating to constable recruitment stood repealed by necessary implication when the new rules governed the same subject. The relaxation power under the new regime vested in the Administrator and not in the Deputy Commissioner of Police, so the relaxation order dated 3.10.1981 could not confer an enforceable right to appointment. The claim for preference based only on being the children or relatives of police personnel was also inconsistent with Article 16, because preference in public employment cannot be founded on descent alone. The Court therefore rejected the claim that the appellants were entitled to appointment merely because of the earlier relaxation or their status as wards of police personnel.

Conclusion: The appellants had no enforceable right to appointment as constables, and their challenge failed.

---