TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2017 (4) TMI 1274
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....rtment. Revenue talatis are to maintain revenue records, collect revenue etc. The creation of these posts is meant to ease the burden on existing talati-cum-mantris who were under the control of the Panchayat Department, performing duties relating to maintenance of land records and various duties incidental thereto. 5. A total of 1800 posts of Revenue Talati were created by a Government Resolution dated 23.10.2008. Ordinarily recruitment to such post is carried out by Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB). The board was requested to do so. The board expressed its inability to undertake the task within the time frame decided by the state. 6. Given the urgency of the situation, the Revenue board of the State of Gujarat decided to undertake the recruitment process by itself. The proposal was approved by the State by a Resolution dated 4.12.2013 (for convenience GR-I) of the General Administration Department. By another GR dated 11.12.2013, the Revenue Talati Recruitment Committee (hereafter COMMITTEE) was constituted under the chairmanship of Revenue Inspection Commissioner, who is an Ex-Officio Secretary to the State of Gujarat with Collector, Ahmedabad and Collec....
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....leging the commission of a large number of malpractices in connection with the examination: - a complaint from Bhubhai Damor on 17.10.2014. - The Collector, Sabrakantha District forwarded a complaint received by him from Mr R.D. Patel detailing various irregularities. - Similar complaint of irregularities was addressed to the Principal Secretary, General Administration Department by one Kameshbhai from Rupakheda, District Dahod. - Another complaint was filed in the local crime branch of Surendranagar against one Hiren Narottambhai Kaoisha alleging that he had collected an amount of Rs. 1.55 crores from 62 candidates. - Further complaint alleging that one Dhirubhai Bhil, who was working as a peon in the office of the Secretary, Land Reforms and one woman employee from the same office had accepted money from a number of candidates promising to ensure that these candidates would clear the examination. The Secretary, Land Reforms was also the Chairman of the Recruitment Committee. 12. In view of receipt of a large number of complaints, the COMMITTEE probed into the matter. Some irregularities were noticed. For example....
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....inciple of proportionality; (iii) Tested in the light of the twin principles mentioned above, the decision of the COMMITTEE is both unreasonable and disproportionate to the alleged mischief, unreasonable since it is based on the irrelevant consideration of the embarrassment caused to the government and disproportionate since the allegations pertain to a small number of candidates whose candidature could have been segregated and rejected. 16. Two questions need to be examined: (1) What are the principles which govern the jurisdiction of the Courts which exercise the power of judicial review of administrative action in the context of a situation like the one presented by the facts of these appeals; (2) Whether those legal principles are strictly followed by the respondents while taking the impugned decision? 17. The basic principles governing the judicial review of administrative action are too well settled. Two judgments which are frequently quoted in this regard are - Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd. v. Wednesbury Corporation[(1948) 1 KB 223] and Council of Civil Service Unions v. Minister for Civil Service[1984 3 All ER 935 (HL) ]. 18. Lord Dipl....
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....I have described the third head as "procedural impropriety" rather than failure to observe basic rules of natural justice or failure to act with procedural fairness towards the person who will be affected by the decision. This is because susceptibility to judicial review under this head covers also failure by an administrative tribunal to observe procedural rules that are expressly laid down in the legislative instrument by which its jurisdiction is conferred, even where such failure does not involve any denial of natural justice. But the instant case is not concerned with the proceedings of an administrative tribunal at all." It can be seen from the above extract, Lord Diplock identified three heads under which judicial review is undertaken, i.e., illegality, irrationality and procedural impropriety. He also recognised the possibility of new heads such as 'proportionality' being identified in future. He explained the concepts of the three already identified heads. He declared that the head 'irrationality' is synonymous with 'Wednesbury unreasonableness'. 19. The principle laid down in Council of Civil Service Unions has been quoted with approval by this Court in Tata Cellular v....
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.... the executive power could certainly be exercised to protect the public interest. The right of each one of the appellants herein for admission to the medical colleges in the State of Madhya Pradesh is itself an emanation of the State's executive action. No doubt, even executive action of the State can create rights. Unless there is something either in the Constitution or law which prohibits the abrogation or abridgment of rights, it is permissible for the State to do so by executive action in accordance with some specified procedure of law. No doubt, that the overarching requirement of Constitution is that every action of the State must be informed with reason and must be in public interest. Nothing has been brought to our notice which prohibits the impugned executive action. If it is established that the adoption of unfair means on large scale resulted in the contamination of the entrance examination (PMT) process of successive years, the State undoubtedly would have the power to take appropriate action to protect the public interest. I, therefore, reject the submission of the appellants."; ^In the case of Union of India v. Anand Kumar Pandey, 1994 5 SCC 663 large scale cheatin....
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....o hold otherwise. Therefore, the 1st submission is rejected. 24. The next question is whether the impugned decision could be sustained judged in the light of the principles of 'Wednesbury unreasonableness'. In the language of Lord Diplock, the principle is that "a decision which is so outrageous in its defiance of logic or of accepted moral standards that no sensible person who had applied his mind to the question to be decided could have arrived at it". Having regard to the nature of the allegations and the prima facie proof indicating the possibility of occurrence of large scale tampering with the examination process which led to the impugned action, it cannot be said that the impugned action of the respondent is "so outrageous in its defiance of logic" or "moral standards". Therefore, the 2nd submission of the appellant is also required to be rejected. 25. We are left with the 3rd question - whether the magnitude of the impugned action is so disproportionate to the mischief sought to be addressed by the respondents that the cancellation of the entire examination process affecting lakhs of candidates cannot be justified on the basis of doctrine of proportionality. 26. Th....
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....reviewing authority. 67. But where an administrative action is challenged as "arbitrary" under Article 14 on the basis of E.P. Royappa v. State of T.N., (1974) 4 SCC 3, (as in cases where punishments in disciplinary cases are challenged), the question will be whether the administrative order is "rational" or "reasonable" and the test then is the Wednesbury test. The courts would then be confined only to a secondary role and will only have to see whether the administrator has done well in his primary role, whether he has acted illegally or has omitted relevant factors from consideration or has taken irrelevant factors into consideration or whether his view is one which no reasonable person could have taken. If his action does not satisfy these rules, it is to be treated as arbitrary. In G.B. Mahajan v. Jalgaon Municipal Council, (1991) 3 SCC 91, Venkatachaliah, J. (as he then was) pointed out that "reasonableness" of the administrator under Article 14 in the context of administrative law has to be judged from the stand point of Wednesbury rules. In Tata Cellular v. Union of India, (1994) 6 SCC 651, Indian Express Newspapers Bombay (P) Ltd. v. Union of India, (1985) 1 SCC 64....