TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2016 (2) TMI 1227
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....to as Rules, 2000), upper age limit for appointment to the post of Dy. S.P. was 25 years and she had already crossed the said age limit, and therefore, she was rendered ineligible for the post in question. 2. This decision of the Respondents in not appointing the Appellant as Dy. S.P. was challenged by the Appellant by filing the writ petition in the High Court of Chhattisgarh on the ground that she was entitled to the benefit of age relaxation on account of being Government Servant. It may be noted at this juncture that she was appointed as Excise Sub Inspector, Bilaspur after clearing the CG combined Competitive Examination, 2003 (which is also called State Services Examination, 2003). She, thus, claimed that she was a Government Servant and on that ground she claimed age relaxation as per Rule 8 of the Rules, 2000. However, her writ petition was dismissed by the learned single Judge holding that she entered the Government job vide appointment order dated 21.04.2006 which was after the cut-off date as 01.01.2006 for the post of Dy. S.P. and, therefore, was not entitled to the benefit of age relaxation. The Appellant filed the writ appeal before the Division Bench and claimed b....
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....ter referred to as the 'Rules, 2005') came into force which were published in the Official Gazette on 28.06.2005. The effect of these Rules would be discussed at the relevant stage. 5. Appellant herein had applied for the post of Dy. S.P. and appeared in the preliminary examination which she duly qualified. On that basis, the Appellant filled the form for appearing in main examination. In this form, she stated that she was entitled to relaxation of ten years in upper age limit being a woman. Such a relaxation was claimed on the basis of the Rules, 1997 which were brought into force w.e.f. 07.02.1997. The Rule 4 thereof provides for such age relaxation. For our purposes, Rule 2 and Rule 4 are relevant and are reproduced below: 2. Scope and application - Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in any service Rules, these rules shall apply to all persons to public service and posts in connection with the affairs of the State. 4. Age Relaxation. - There shall be age relaxation of ten years for women candidates for direct appointment in all posts in the services under the State in addition to the upper age limit prescribed in any serv....
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....From bare reading of Rule 8 of the Rules, 2000, it is clear that age relaxation under the Rules, 1997 is not applicable for recruitment on the post of Dy. S.P. From advertisement also, it is evident that no relaxation in age for recruitment for the post of Dy. S.P. was available to the woman candidates whereas age relaxation under the aforesaid rules have been made applicable in other categories. Since there was no challenge by the Appellant to the applicability of the Rules, 2000, she cannot be permitted to assail the impugned judgment on the ground that she was entitled for age relaxation as provided Under Rule 4 of the Rules, 1997. 8. As is clear from the aforesaid reasoning given by the High Court, Rule 8 of Rules, 2000 would prevail upon Rules, 1997 and, therefore, Rules, 1997 are not applicable for recruitment to the post of Dy. S.P. The High Court has also been persuaded by the stipulation contained in the advertisement as per which outer age limit for the post of Dy. S.P. was 25 years. The whole controversy, therefore, revolves around interplay of Rules, 1997 and Rules 2000 as well as other rules. That was precisely the focus of arguments of the learned Counsel for the p....
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.... candidate holding a post temporarily and applying for another post should not be or more than 33 years of age. This concession shall also be admissible to the contingency paid employees, work-charged employees and employees working in the Project Implementation Committee. (iii) A candidate who is a retrenched Government Servant shall be allowed to deduct from his age the period of all temporary service previously rendered by him upto a maximum of 7 years even if it represents more than one spell provided that the resultant age does not exceed the upper age limit by three years. Explanation.-- The term 'retrenched Government Servant' denotes a person who was in Government Servant of this State or of any of the constituent units for a continuous period of not less than six months and who was discharged because of reduction in the number of employees not more than three years prior to the date of his registration in the Employment Exchange or of application made otherwise for employment in the Government Service. (d) A candidate who is an ex-serviceman shall be allowed to deduct from his age the period of all defense services previously rendered by ....
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....g the application they resign from the service either before or after the selection. They will however continue to be eligible if they are retrenched from the service or post after submitting the application. Note (2) In no other case age limits will be relaxed. Note (3) Department candidates must obtain previous permission of their appointing authority to appear for the selection. 11. Column (4) of Schedule III prescribes minimum age limit of 20 years and maximum age limit of 25 years for the post of Dy. S.P. (HQ, Training, JNPA, PTC, PTS, Security, Lines etc.). A reading of the aforesaid provision, in its entirety, would suggest that relaxation in age of different periods is provided to the candidates belonging to the following categories: (i) Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Classes. (ii) Employees of the Madhya Pradesh Government holding permanent post or temporary post or retrenched Government Servant. (iii) Ex-Serviceman (iv) Widow/destitute or divorced women candidates (v) Green card holder candidates under the Family Welfare Programme (vi) Awarded superior caste partners of a coup....
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..... What is relevant for us is that for women candidates, a provision is specifically made providing that as per Rules, 1997, 10 years age relaxation would be given to women candidates, as is clear from the said provision which reads as under: (xiv) up to maximum 10 years: for women candidate: As per Rajpatra (Asadharan) dated 7.2.1997, Published rule C.G. Civil Service (Special provision of appointment for women) Rule 1997, 10 years age relaxation will be given to women candidate. Taking advantage of this provision, Mr. Sinha argued that since examinations were conducted under the aforesaid Rules, in view of the said specific provision, the Appellant was entitled to age relaxation, as per Rules, 1997. 14. Another submission of Mr. Ajit Kumar Sinha was that in any case it was not permissible for the Respondents to make recruitment in-question on the basis of Rules, 2000 in view of the fact that in the State of Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh Police Executive (Gazetted) Recruitment and Promotion Rules, 2005 were promulgated vide Notification dated June 28, 2005 issued by the Governor of the State in exercise of proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India and, t....
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....er these Rules there is no provision for relaxation for women candidates and, therefore, High Court rightly held that the Appellant was not entitled to any such age relaxation and was, therefore, suffered from age bar. 18. From the arguments noted above, the questions that fall for consideration and need the answers are the following: (a) Whether the recruitment to the post of Dy. S.P. was governed by Rules, 2005 or it was rightly done under the Rules, 2000? It may be pointed out at this stage itself that if Rules, 2005 are applicable then the outcome of the case would clearly be in favour of the Appellant inasmuch as rules specifically provided for relaxation upto 10 years for women candidates. However, if answer to the aforesaid question is that recruitment process was rightly carried Under Rules, 2000 then further question would arise for consideration, viz.: (b) Notwithstanding the fact that Rules, 2000 do not contain any provision for relaxation qua women candidates, whether a relaxation would still be available to women candidates Under Rules, 1997? There are two incidental facets of question No. (b), which are as follows: (i) Whether Rules, 1....
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....ing so, the question which arises is whether the vacancies which had arisen earlier than 1995 can be filled as per the 1995 Rules. Our attention has been drawn by Mr. Mehta to a decision of this Court in the case of N.T. Bevin Katti v. Karnataka Public Service Commission [ (1990) 3 SCC 157]. In that case after referring to the earlier decisions in the cases of Y.V. Rangaiah (1983) 3 SCC 284, P. Ganeshwar Rao 1988 (Supp) SCC 740, and A.A. Calton v. Director of Education [ (1983) 3 SCC 33] it was held by this Court that the vacancies which had occurred prior to the amendment of the Rules would be governed by the old Rules and not by the amended Rules. 20. No doubt, under certain exceptional circumstances, Government can take a conscience decisions not to fill the vacancies under the old Rules and, thus, there can be departure of the aforesaid general rule in exceptional cases. This legal precept was recognised in the case of Rajasthan Public Service Commission v. Keilla Kumar Palliwal and Anr. (2007) 10 SCC 260 in the following words: There is no quarrel over the proposition of law that normal rule is that the vacancy prior to the new Rules would be governed by the old Ru....
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....sition will have to be considered keeping in view Rules, 2000 in juxtaposition with Rules, 1997 and other relevant provisions which were applicable as on that date. 25. No doubt, Rule 8 of Rules, 2000, which, inter alia, lays down the provision pertaining to upper and lower age of the candidates, does not make any specific provision for relaxation of age in respect of women candidates. We also are conscious of the fact that Note (2) appended to Rule 8 provides that in no other case, age limit will be relaxed. However, that is not the end of the matter. The legal position is to be examined in conjunction with all other rules which occupy the field and all relevant to determine the issue. We are of the opinion that Rules, 1997 read with State Services Examination Rules, 2003 would get attracted and as these Rules make a specific provision for providing of age relaxation upto ten years that is to be given to women candidates, the Appellant herein shall be entitled to the said benefit. The reasons for arriving at this finding are explained hereinafter: 26. In the first instance, it is to be borne in mind that Rules, 1997 are specific Rules, specially meant to give benefit of age ....
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....iscrimination against women can hinder development. In this scenario, empowerment can accelerate development. From whichever direction the issue is looked into, it provides justification for giving economic empowerment to women. It is, for this purpose, there is much emphasis on women empowerment (as it leads to economic development) by United Nations World Bank and other such Bodies. Interestingly, the 2012 World Development Report (World Bank 2011) adopts a much more nuanced message. While it emphasizes the "business case" for women empowerment, it mainly takes it as given that the equality between women and men is a desirable goal in itself, and policies should aim to achieve that goal. Poverty and lack of opportunity breed inequality between men and women, so that when economic development reduces poverty, the condition of women improves on two counts: first, when poverty is reduced, the condition of everyone, including women, improves, and second, gender inequality declines as poverty declines, so the condition of women improves more than that of men with development. Economic development, however, is not enough to bring about complete equality between men and women. Policy ac....
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....ress or implied) semantic possibilities. The semantic component thus sets the limits of interpretation by restricting the interpreter to a legal meaning that the text can bear in its (public or private) language. 10. of the aforesaid three components, namely, language, purpose and discretion 'of the Court', insofar as purposive component is concerned, this is the ratio juris, the purpose at the core of the text. This purpose is the values, goals, interests, policies and aims that the text is designed to actualize. It is the function that the text is designed to fulfil. 11. We may also emphasize that the statutory interpretation of a provision is never static but is always dynamic. Though literal rule of interpretation, till some time ago, was treated as the 'golden rule', it is now the doctrine of purposive interpretation which is predominant, particularly in those cases where literal interpretation may not serve the purpose or may lead to absurdity. If it brings about an end which is at variance with the purpose of statute, that cannot be countenanced. Not only legal process thinkers such as Hart and Sacks rejected intentionalism as a grand strate....
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....hieve social purpose and consequently social justice. What should be the approach in interpreting such laws is explained in Badshah v. Sou. Urmila Badshah Godse and Anr. (2014) 1 SCC 188 in the following words: 13.3. Thirdly, in such cases, purposive interpretation needs to be given to the provisions of Section 125, Code of Criminal Procedure While dealing with the application of destitute wife or hapless children or parents under this provision, the Court is dealing with the marginalized sections of the society. The purpose is to achieve "social justice" which is the Constitutional vision, enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of India. Preamble to the Constitution of India clearly signals that we have chosen the democratic path Under Rule of law to achieve the goal of securing for all its citizens, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It specifically highlights achieving their social justice. Therefore, it becomes the bounden duty of the Courts to advance the cause of the social justice. While giving interpretation to a particular provision, the Court is supposed to bridge the gap between the law and society. 14. of late, in this very direction, it is emphasiz....
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.... and statutory interpretation, the Court is supposed to exercise direction in determining the proper relationship between the subjective and objective purpose of the law. 17. Cardozo acknowledges in his classic ...no system of jus scriptum has been able to escape the need of it", and he elaborates: "It is true that Codes and Statutes do not render the Judge superfluous, nor his work perfunctory and mechanical. There are gaps to be filled. There are hardships and wrongs to be mitigated if not avoided. Interpretation is often spoken of as if it were nothing but the search and the discovery of a meaning which, however, obscure and latent, had none the less a real and ascertainable pre-existence in the legislator's mind. The process is, indeed, that at times, but it is often something more. The ascertainment of intention may be the least of a judge's troubles in ascribing meaning to a stature. Says Gray in his lecture The fact is that the difficulties of so-called interpretation arise when the legislature has had no meaning at all; when the question which is raised on the statute never occurred to it; when what the judges have to do is, not to determine that the leg....
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....uld reduce the legislation to futility and should accept the bolder construction based on the view that Parliament would legislate only for the purpose of bringing about an effective result. If this interpretation is not accepted, it would amount to giving a premium to the husband for defrauding the wife. Therefore, at least for the purpose of claiming maintenance Under Section 125, Code of Criminal Procedure, such a woman is to be treated as the legally wedded wife. 21. The principles of Hindu Personal Law have developed in an evolutionary way out of concern for all those subject to it so as to make fair provision against destitution. The manifest purpose is to achieve the social objectives for making bare minimum provision to sustain the members of relatively smaller social groups. Its foundation spring is humanistic. In its operation field all though, it lays down the permissible categories under its benefaction, which are so entitled either because of the tenets supported by clear public policy or because of the need to subserve the social and individual morality measured for maintenance. 22. In taking the aforesaid view, we are also encouraged by the following observatio....