TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2015 (9) TMI 116
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....ch No.17 and thereafter, a final seniority list of Assistant Commandants was published on 5.7.1996. C. Respondent no.1 challenged the said seniority list in which he was ranked below the officers of Batch No. 17, by filing Writ Petition No. 1393 of 1999, on the ground that with effect from 15.3.1993, he stood promoted as Assistant Commandant, and that he had also completed all requisite training for the same at the B.S.F. Academy, Tekanpur, which had commenced on 1.2.1993. There was another batch that undertook training on 2.7.1993. However, the said officers of the second batch, who had joined such training on 2.7.1993, could not be ranked higher than him, in the seniority list. D. The said writ petition filed by respondent no.1, was contested by the Union of India. The learned single judge allowed the writ petition vide impugned judgment and order dated 27.7.2001, wherein it was held that respondent no.1/petitioner therein, was, in fact, entitled to be ranked in seniority above the officers of Batch No.17, and below the officers of Batch No.16. E. The Union of India challenged the aforementioned impugned judgment and order dated 27.7.2001, by filing a Letters Patent Appeal whi....
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....n the event of a contingency which is exactly what has taken place in the instant case. The High Court has only applied the said provisions. Thus, no interference is called for and the present appeals are liable to be rejected. 5. We have considered the rival submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record. 6. The relevant Rule 3 of the Rules, 1978, reads as under: "(3) Subject to the provisions of Sub-Rule (2) inter - se seniority amongst officers holding the same rank shall be as follows namely: (i) Seniority of Officers promoted on the same day shall be determined in the order in which they are selected for promotion to that rank. (ii) Seniority of direct entrants shall be determined in accordance with the aggregate marks obtained by them before the Selection Board and at the passing out examination conducted at the Border Security Force Academy. (iii) Seniority of temporary officers subject to the provisions of clauses (i) and (ii) shall be determined on the basis of the order of merit at the time of their selection and officers selected on an earlier batch will be senior to officers selected in subsequent batches. (iv) Seniority of officer....
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....t, capable of comprehending them. 10. In Desh Bandhu Gupta and Co. & Ors. v. Delhi Stock Exchange Association Ltd., AIR 1979 SC 1049, this Court observed that the principle of contemporenea expositio, i.e. interpreting a document with reference to the exposition that it has received from the Competent Authority, can be invoked though the same will not always be decisive with respect to questions of construction. Administrative construction, i.e., contemporaneous construction that is provided by administrative or executive officers who are responsible for the execution of the Act/Rules etc., should generally be clearly erroneous, before the same is over-turned. Such a construction, commonly referred to as practical construction although not controlling, is nevertheless entitled to be given considerable weightage and is also, highly persuasive. It may however, be disregarded for certain cogent reasons. In a clear case of error, the Court should, without hesitation, refuse to follow such a construction for the reason that, "wrong practice does not make the law." (Vide : Municipal Corporation for City of Pune & Anr. v. Bharat Forge Co. Ltd. & Ors., AIR 1996 SC 2856). (See also: State ....
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....ntion of the enactment, or to qualify something enacted therein, which, but for the proviso would be within the purview of such enactment. Thus, its purpose is to exclude something which would otherwise fall squarely within the general language of the main enactment. Usually, a proviso cannot be interpreted as a general rule that has been provided for. Nor it can be interpreted in a manner that would nullify the enactment, or take away in entirety, a right that has been conferred by the statute. In case, the language of the main enactment is clear and unambiguous, a proviso can have no repercussion on the interpretation of the main enactment, so as to exclude by implication, what clearly falls within its expressed terms. If, upon plain and fair construction, the main provision is clear, a proviso cannot expand or limit its ambit and scope. (Vide: CIT, Mysore etc. v. Indo Mercantile Bank Ltd., AIR 1959 SC 713; Kush Sahgal & Ors. v. M.C. Mitter & Ors., AIR 2000 SC 1390; Haryana State Cooperative Land Development Bank Ltd. v. Haryana State Cooperative Land Development Bank Employees Union & Anr., (2004) 1 SCC 574; Nagar Palika Nigam v. Krishi Upaj Mandi Samiti & Ors., AIR 2009 SC 187;....
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....Silk Mills Ltd. & Ors., AIR 1963 SC 1128 a Constitution Bench of this Court held that, "inconvenience is not" a decisive factor to be considered while interpreting a statute. 21. In Martin Burn Ltd. v. The Corporation of Calcutta, AIR 1966 SC 529, this Court, while dealing with the same issue observed as under:- "A result flowing from a statutory provision is never an evil. A Court has no power to ignore that provision to relieve what it considers a distress resulting from its operation. A statute must of course be given effect to whether a Court likes the result or not." (See also: The Commissioner of Income Tax, West Bengal I, Calcutta v. M/s Vegetables Products Ltd., AIR 1973 SC 927; and Tata Power Company Ltd. v. Reliance Energy Limited & Ors., (2009) 16 SCC 659). Therefore, it is evident that the hardship caused to an individual, cannot be a ground for not giving effective and grammatical meaning to every word of the provision, if the language used therein, is unequivocal. Addition and Subtraction of words: 22. The Court has to keep in mind the fact that, while interpreting the provisions of a Statute, it can neither add, nor subtract even a single word. The legal maxim ....
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....ning on 1.2.1993, while Batch No.17 consisted of 87 officers who joined the training on 2.7.1993. They could not be sent for training in one batch, even though they had been selected through the same competitive examination, due to administrative reasons i.e., character verification etc. Respondent no.1, who was promoted from the feeding cadre, joined his post on 15.3.1993. Thus, it is evident that he was placed in the promotional cadre, prior to the commencement of the training of Batch No.17 on 2.7.1993. 26. The learned Single Judge dealt with the statutory provisions contained in Rule 3 and held as under: "A perusal of the above makes it apparent that in the case of the officers who have been promoted their seniority is to be determined on the basis of continuous appointment on a day in which they are selected for promoted to that rank. In case of direct entrants their inter-se seniority is to be determined on the basis of aggregate marks obtained by them. Inter-se seniority of the officers mentioned at serial No.(l) (ii) and (iii) is to be determined according to the date of their continuous appointment in the rank. Proviso to the rule is clear. It is specifically mentioned t....