TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (5) TMI 1949
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....anna and Shibashish Misra, Advs. JUDGMENT Indu Malhotra, J. Leave granted. 1. The present Civil Appeals arise out of S.L.P. (C) Nos. 4976-4980/2019 and S.L.P. (C) Diary Nos. 13938 and 13946/2019. S.L.P. (C) Nos. 4976-4980/2019 arise out of the common impugned judgment and Order dated 30.04.2018 passed by a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court in W.P. (C) Nos. 14831/2013, 18749/2012, 6720/2013, 25961/2017 and 9200/2016. S.L.P. (C) Diary Nos. 13938 and 13946/2019 arise out of the impugned Orders dated 08.08.2018 and 10.08.2018 passed by a Division Bench of the Orissa High Court whereby W.P. (C) Nos. 7383 and 14665/2018 were disposed of in terms of the common impugned judgment and Order dated 30.04.2018. 2. The factual matrix in which the present Civil Appeals arise for consideration, briefly stated, are as under: 2.1. On 28.04.2008, a Letter was issued by the Appellant-State of Orissa ("State") to all Departments, Heads of Departments, and Collectors inviting recommendations for appointment by way of promotion to the Orissa Administrative Service Class-II ("OAS Class-II") cadre having 150 vacancies. The recruitment process was to be undertaken in acco....
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....Orissa Revenue Service Group 'B' cadre was constituted. The existing cadre of OAS Class-II posts was abolished. The corresponding cadre of OAS Class-II was the Orissa Revenue Service Group 'B' cadre. 2.9. The State vide two Notifications dated 07.12.2010 appointed candidates on OAS Class-II posts by way of selection and promotion for the recruitment years 2001 to 2005. 2.10. The State framed the Orissa Administrative Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2011 ("OAS Rules, 2011") Under Article 309 of the Constitution of India. The Rules came into force on 25.06.2011. Rule 17 of the OAS Rules, 2011 repealed the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 under which the 2008 recruitment process had been initiated. Rule 4 of the OAS Rules, 2011 provides for recruitment by promotion to Group 'A' (Junior Branch) posts of the re-constituted Orissa Administrative Service cadre from members of the Orissa Revenue Service. Similarly, the Orissa Revenue Service (Recruitment) Rules, 2011 ("ORS Rules, 2011") came into force on June 27, 2011 to regulate the method of recruitment, and conditions of service, of ....
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....ated 14.03.2012 passed by the O.A.T. The State Authorities were directed to call for a review D.P.C. to consider the cases of the contesting Respondents, and other eligible officers, and complete the recruitment process for 150 vacant OAS Class-II posts as against the recruitment year of 2008 within 3 months. The High Court held that the 150 vacant OAS Class-II posts for which recommendations were made in the year 2008, prior to the abolition of the OAS Class-II posts, and re-constitution of the Orissa Revenue Service cadre, be filled up under the OAS Class II Rules, 1978. 3. Aggrieved by the impugned judgment and Order dated 30.04.2018 as well as the impugned Orders dated 08.08.2018 and 10.08.2018 passed by the Division Bench, the State has filed the present Special Leave Petitions. 4. The issue which arises for our consideration in the present Civil Appeals is whether the Division Bench of the Orissa High Court was justified in directing the State to convene a review D.P.C. for considering the case of the contesting Respondents and other eligible officers, and directing it to complete the recruitment process for recruitment year of 2008 to the 150 vacant posts. 5. Submis....
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....08. The contesting Respondents were eligible, and were duly recommended for appointment by way of selection/promotion under the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and the OAS Class II Regulations, 1978. 6.2. The State, being a model employer, cannot discriminate in the matter of selection/promotion to OAS Class-II posts on a 'pick-and-choose' basis. 6.3. Admittedly, the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and the OAS Class II Regulations, 1978 were in force at the time when the State decided to fill up 150 OAS Class-II posts on 28.04.2008. The vacancies were required to be filled up under the OAS Class II Rules, 1978. 6.4. Reliance was placed by Ms. Arora, learned Senior Advocate, on the decision of this Court in Y.V. Rangaiah and Ors. v. J. Sreenivasa Rao and Ors. (1983) 3 SCC 284. It was submitted that vacancies which had occurred prior to the repeal of the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and OAS Class II Regulations, 1978; and the coming into force of the OAS Rules, 2011 and the ORS Rules, 2011, would be governed by the old Rules, viz. OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and OAS Class II Regulations, 1978. 7. Discussion and Analysis 7.1. The contesting Respondents cannot claim an accrued or ves....
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....andidates in a tabular form before a Selection Board constituted Under Regulation 3. 7.7. Under Regulation 7, the Selection Board was required to consider the recommendations so received from the Administrative Department, scrutinise the records relating to the candidates who had been recommended, and prepare a list of candidates who in the opinion of the Selection Board are suitable for appointment to OAS Class-II posts. 7.8. Thereafter, as per Regulation 8, the list prepared by the Selection Board Under Regulation 7 was required to be referred to the Orissa Public Service Commission by the State Government, along with the service records of the all candidates whose names feature in the list. 7.9. After considering the list prepared Under Regulation 7 along with other documents and records received from the State Government, the Orissa Public Service Commission was required to recommend a list of candidates suitable for selection or promotion, as the case may be, Under Regulation 9. 7.10. The list of candidates recommended by the Orissa Public Service Commission Under Regulation 9 was required to be placed before the State Government. The said list, after any approval ....
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....final list of selected candidates was placed by the Orissa Public Service Commission before the State Government for the purposes of appointment as against the vacancies of 2008. As such, the contesting Respondents who had merely been recommended by their respective Departmental Authorities could not be considered to be 'eligible' for appointment by way of promotion or selection under the erstwhile OAS Class II Regulations, 1978, since the steps set out in the Regulations mentioned below had not been completed prior to the repeal of the old OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and the OAS Class II Regulations, 1978: * Regulation 7-preparation of a list of suitable candidates by the Selection Board; * Regulation 8-consultation with the Orissa Public Service Commission; * Regulation 9-recommendation of the Orissa Public Service Commission; and, * Regulation 10-preparation and placement of final list before the State Government for appointment. Thus, the contesting Respondents had not acquired an accrued or vested right of selection or promotion to OAS Class-II posts in accordance with the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 and the OAS Class II Regulations,....
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....ns of Dr. Rajeev Dhavan that the vacancies, which had arisen before 17-5-1999 had to be filled under the unamended Rules. 7.14. In the present case the contesting Respondents had merely been recommended by the respective Departmental Authorities Under Regulation 6. The recruitment process had not proceeded any further thereafter. There was no time-frame prescribed for completion of the recruitment process under the erstwhile OAS Class-II Rules, 1978 or the OAS Class-II Regulations, 1978. 7.15. In the meanwhile, the State restructured the Orissa Administrative Service cadre, and constituted the Orissa Revenue Service vide Resolutions dated 28.02.2009 and 25.05.2009. As a part of the re-structuring exercise, the erstwhile OAS Class-II posts were abolished, and a corresponding new cadre of Group 'B' posts in the newly constituted Orissa Revenue Service was created. 7.16. The contesting Respondents have not challenged either the abolition of OAS Class-II posts, or the creation of the corresponding Orissa Revenue Service Group 'B' posts. 7.17. To the contrary, some of them have participated in the proceedings of the D.P.C. convened on 30.04.2013 for recrui....
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....d not have any right to appointment. In this connection it was observed that the recruitment process could be stopped by the Government at any time before a candidate has been appointed. A candidate has no vested right to get the process completed and at the most the Government could be required to justify its action on the touchstone of Article 14 of the Constitution. In Union of India and Ors. v. Krishna Kumar and Ors. 2019 (1) SCALE 691 this Court was dealing with a similar situation of cadre restructuring. The relevant extract of the decision is reproduced hereinbelow for ready reference: 14. In view of this statement of the law, it is evident that once the structure of Assam Rifles underwent a change following the creation of the intermediate post of Warrant Officer, persons holding the post of Havildar would be considered for promotion to the post of Warrant Officer. The intermediate post of Warrant Officer was created as a result of the restructuring exercise. The High Court was, in our view, in error in postulating that vacancies which arose prior to the amendment of the Recruitment Rules would necessarily be governed by the Rules which existed at the time of....