ALL INDIA EX-EMERGENCY COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND SHORT COMMD. OFFICERS WELFARE ASSN. AND ANR. ETC. versus UNION OF INDIA AND ANR.

Citation: [1994] SUPP. 3 S.C.R. 712 · Decided: 20-09-1994 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: KULDIP SINGH · Disposal: Dismissed
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
ALL INDIA EX-EMERGENCY COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND 
SHORT COMMD. OFFICERS WELFARE ASSN. AND ANR. ETC. 
v. 
UNION OF INDIA AND ANR. 
B 
SEPTEMBER 20, 1994 
[KULDIP SINGH AND B.L. HANSARIA, JJ.] 
Service Law:· 
C 
Released Emergency Commissioned Officers and Short Service _Com-
D 
missioned Officers(Reservation of Vacancies) Rules, 1971: 
Benefits extended to holders of reserved posts and not to holders of 
non-reserved posts-Whether discriminatory and violative of Art. 14 of the 
Constitution of India-Held: No. 
Constitution of India, 1950 : 
Art. 14-:Released Emergency Commissioned Officers and Short Ser-
vice Commissioned Officers (Reservation of Vacancies) Rules, 1971-B'enefit 
E 
extended to holders of non-reserved posts-Held: Not vio?ative of equality 
cla!-lse. 
· 
The Released Emergency Commissioned Officers and Short Service 
Commissioned Officers (Reservations of Vacancies) Rules, 1971 were 
framed to compensate the Emergency Commissioned officers for the 
F 
chances they had lost by entering public s_ervices during the time the 
country needed them. The Ruks applied to those who were commissioned 
after 1st November, 1962, but before 10th January, 1968; certain posts in 
Ctntral Civil Services were reserved for them and their seniority was 
determined as if they entered the service at the first opportunity on or 
G 
before the date of their Commission, after the training period. 
The Writ petitioners claimed that the benefit of the said Rules 
should be made available to those who joined the non-reserved posts also. 
It was contended by the petitioners that the classification viz. holders 
H of reserved post and non-reserved posts, was violative of Art. 14. 
712 
'I 
COMMD. OFFICERs &SHORT COMMD. OFFICERS WELFARE ASSN. v. u.o.I. [HANSARIA, J.] 
713 
Dismissing the Writ Petition, this Court 
A 
· HELD : 1. A policy decision was taken to give some benefit to those 
servicemen who had stood with the people when the country was invaded 
and had rendered useful service during the emergency. How such benefit 
and in what shape it ought to have been given are not matters on which 
courts can have ~ny say; these are exclusively for the executive to decide. B 
The courts come into picture in such policy matters if the same be either 
illegal or irrational or were to suffer from proc•· dural impropriety. There 
is no such infirmity in the policy at hand. (714-F-G] 
. 
Tata Cellular v. Union of India, JT (1994) 4 SC 532, relied on. 
C 
2. As the recruitment for the reserved post is through separate 
method, there is no possibility of some of the released officers obtaining 
reserved posts with the benefit available under the Rules, and others 
obtaining non-reserved posts with no benefit visualised by the Rules. So 
the two types of incumbents have to be taken as belonging to two different D 
categories; the one having no clash of interest with the other; the one being 
denied on benefit available to the other. (714-H, 715-A-B] 
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (C) No. 151 of 
1989. 
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.) 
Along with WP {C) No. 670/93, S.L.P. (C) Nos. 9765-66/94. 
E 
R.K. Kapoor, M.K. Singh, P.Verma and Anis Ahmed Khan for the 
Petitioner in W.P. No. 151/89 & 670/93 Petitioner-in-person in SLP Nos. F 
9765-66/94. 
V.C. Mahajan, Anil Kr. Sangal and C.B. Babu for the Respondents. 
S. Wasim A Qadri for the Respondent in No.2. 
The Judgment o( the Court was delivered by 
HANSARIA, J. The Released Emergency Commissioned Officers 
G 
and Short Service Commissioned Officers (Reservation of Vacancies) 
Rules, 1971 (for short, the Rules) came to be framed by the President of 
India to compensate the emergency commissioned officers for the chances H 
714 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1994) SUPP. 3 S.C.R. 
A . they had lost by entering public services during the time the country needed 
them. The Rules apply to those who were commissioned after the 1st 
November, 1962 but before the 10th January, 1968 and make certain 
percentage of reservation in all Central Civil Services and their seniority, 
on entering these services, is determined on the assumption that ·they 
B 
entered the same "at the first opportunity they had after joining the training 
prior to their Commission or the date of their Commission". The prayer of 
the All India ex-Emergency Commissioned Officers and short service 
Commissioned Officers Welfare Association and other petitioners is that 
the same benefit should be made availa
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