TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (7) TMI 967
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.... machines provided to them placed them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis candidates declared successful. The successful candidates also appear to have made a representation impressing upon the authorities to go ahead with the interviews and to complete the selection process expeditiously. Since that did not happen, OA No.748 of 2006 was filed before the CAT by one of the successful candidates for a direction to respondent to proceed with the selection. In the meantime the Divisional Manager of the appellant-Railways issued an order on 14th of December, 2006 cancelling the typewriting test conducted on 30th October, 2006. By another notification of even date a fresh typewriting test was notified to be held on 16th December, 2006 for all the 12 in-service candidates who had appeared in the earlier test. By an interim order passed by the Tribunal the railway authorities were allowed to conduct the proposed second test in which the applicant before the Tribunal could also appear. The applicant was at the same time permitted to amend the prayer in the OA to assail the order passed by the Divisional Manager of the Railways cancelling the earlier test. 4. It is not in dispute that pursuant t....
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....ecessitated by any irregularity in the conduct of the test or any mala fides vitiating the same. In the absence of any such infirmity the cancellation of the examination was arbitrary and unsustainable, declared the High Court. 8. There is no quarrel with the well-settled proposition of law that an order passed by a public authority exercising administrative/executive or statutory powers must be judged by the reasons stated in the order or any record or file contemporaneously maintained. It follows that the infirmity arising out of the absence of reasons cannot be cured by the authority passing the order stating such reasons in an affidavit filed before the Court where the validity of any such order is under challenge. The legal position in this regard is settled by the decisions of this Court in Commissioner of Police, Bombay v. Gordhandas Bhanji (AIR 1952 SC 16) wherein this Court observed : "Public orders, publicly made, in exercise of a statutory authority cannot be construed in the light of explanations subsequently given by the officer making the order of what he meant, or of what was in his mind, or what he intended to do. Public orders made by public authorities are m....
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....cation merely amounts to an invitation to qualified candidates to apply for recruitment and on their selection they do not acquire any right to the post. Unless the relevant recruitment rules so indicate, the State is under no legal duty to fill up all or any of the vacancies. However, it does not mean that the State has the licence of acting in an arbitrary manner. The decision not to fill up the vacancies has to be taken bona fide for appropriate reasons. And if the vacancies or any of them are filled up, the State is bound to respect the comparative merit of the candidates, as reflected at the recruitment test, and no discrimination can be permitted. This correct position has been consistently followed by this Court, and we do not find any discordant note in the decisions in the State of Haryana v. Subhash Chander Marwaha 1974 (3) SCC 220; Neelima Shangla (Miss) v. State of Haryana 1986(4) SCC 268 or Jitender Kumar v. State of Punjab 1985 (1) SCC 122." 13. It is evident from the above that while no candidate acquires an indefeasible right to a post merely because he has appeared in the examination or even found a place in the select list, yet the State does not enjoy an unqua....
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....lation of the typing test was arbitrary is a question which the Court shall have to examine once a challenge is mounted to any such action, no matter the candidates do not have an indefeasible right to claim an appointment against the advertised posts. 16. What then is meant for arbitrary/arbitrariness and how far can the decision of the competent authority in the present case be described as arbitrary? Black's Law Dictionary describes the term "arbitrary" in the following words: "1. Depending on individual discretion; specif., determined by a judge rather than by fixed rules, procedures, or law. 2. (Of a judicial decision) founded on prejudice or preference rather than on reason or fact. This type of decision is often termed arbitrary and capricious." 817. To the same effect is the meaning given to the expression "arbitrary" by Corpus Juris Secundum which explains the term in the following words: "ARBITRARY - Based alone upon one's will, and not upon any course of reasoning and exercise of judgment; bound by no law; capricious; exercised according to one's own will or caprice and therefore conveying a notion of a tendency to abuse possession of power; fixed or done capric....
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.... expected to exercise that discretion in accordance with the general principles governing exercise of power in a constitutional democracy unless of course the statute under which such power is exercisable indicates otherwise. One of the most fundamental principles of rule of law recognized in all democratic systems is that the power vested in any competent authority shall not be exercised arbitrarily and that the power is exercised that it does not lead to any unfair discrimination. The following passage from the above is in this regard apposite: "We have seen in a number of situations how the scope of an official power cannot be interpreted in isolation from general principles governing the exercise of power in a constitutional democracy. The courts presume that these principles apply to the exercise of all powers and that even where the decision-maker is invested with wide discretion, that discretion is to be exercised in accordance with those principles unless Parliament clearly indicates otherwise. One such principle, the rule of law, contains within it a number of requirements such as the right of the individual to access to the law and that power should not be arbitrarily ....
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....ind to the same and records reasons why in its opinion it is necessary to cancel the examination in the interest of purity of the selection process or with a view to preventing injustice or prejudice to those who have appeared in the same. That is precisely what had happened in Dilbagh Singh's case (supra). The examination was cancelled upon an inquiry into the allegations of unjust, arbitrary and dubious selection list prepared by the Selection Board in which the allegations were found to be correct. Even in Tarun K. Singh's case (supra) relied upon by Mr. Malhotra an inquiry into the complaints received against the selection process was conducted no matter after the cancellation of the examination. This Court in that view held that since the selection process was vitiated by procedural and other infirmities cancellation thereof was perfectly justified. 23. That is not, however, the position in the instant case. The order of cancellation passed by the competent authority was not preceded even by a prima facie satisfaction about the correctness of the allegations made by the unsuccessful candidates leave alone an inquiry into the same. The minimum that was expected of the author....
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....also depend upon whether any such exercise is feasible having regard to the nature of the controversy, the constraints of time, effort and expense. But what is absolutely essential is that the authority making the order is alive to the material on the basis of which it purports to take a decision. It cannot act mechanically or under an impulse, for a writ court judicially reviewing any such order cannot countenance the exercise of power vested in a public authority except after due and proper application of mind. Any other view would amount to condoning a fraud upon such power which the authority exercising the same holds in trust only to be exercised for a legitimate purpose and along settled principles of administrative law. 25. The next question then is whether the selection should be finalized on the basis of the test held earlier or the matter allowed to be re-examined by the authority in the context of the representation received by it. In our opinion the latter course would be more in tune with the demands of justice and fairness especially when a second test has been conducted in which all the in service candidates have appeared. The result of this examination/test has n....