STATE OF ORISSA & ANR. versus DHIRENDRA SUNDAR DAS & ORS.

Citation: [2019] 7 S.C.R. 197 · Decided: 06-05-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: UDAY UMESH LALIT · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

Cited by 3 judgment(s) · cites 3 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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STATE OF ORISSA & ANR.
v.
DHIRENDRA SUNDAR DAS & ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 4646 of 2019)
MAY 06, 2019
[UDAY UMESH LALIT AND INDU MALHOTRA, JJ.]
Service Law – Appointment – On 28.04.08 the appellant-State
issued letter to all the Departments inviting recommendations for
appointment by way of promotion to the Orissa Administrative Service
Class-II (OAS Class-II) cadre having 150 vacancies – Recruitment
process was to be undertaken in accordance with the 1978 Rules
and the 1978 Regulations – Concerned Departmental Authorities
forwarded the names of 559 candidates, including the Respondents,
for consideration – State decided to keep the recruitment process
for OAS Class-II posts for the recruitment year 2008 on hold, till
the process of recruitment for the years 2001-2005 was completed
– Aggrieved by the delay, OAs filed by the Respondents before the
Tribunal – State undertook restructuring of the Orissa Administrative
Service in Feb. 2009 – Existing cadre of OAS Class-II posts was
abolished and corresponding cadre of the Orissa Revenue Service
Group ‘B’ cadre was created – State appointed candidates on OAS
Class-II posts for the recruitment years 2001 to 2005 – 1978 Rules
under which the 2008 recruitment process had been initiated,
repealed– Tribunal directed the State to take immediate steps to fill
up Class- II/Group‘B’ posts in the Orissa Revenue Service cadre –
Challenge by the Respondents –Judgment of the Tribunal set aside
–On appeal, held: Respondents cannot claim an accrued or vested
right for selection or promotion to OAS Class-II posts, merely on
the basis of their names being forwarded –  Their names were merely
recommended by their respective Departmental Authorities under
Regulation 6 – Recruitment process did not proceed any further in
accordance with Regulations 7-10 – Respondents can not be
considered to be ‘eligible’ for appointment under the erstwhile 1978
Regulations, since the steps set out in the aforesaid regulations had
not been completed prior to the repeal of the old 1978 Rules and
the 1978 Regulations – Further, the respondents did not challenge
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 7 S.C.R.
either the abolition of OAS Class-II posts, or the creation of the
corresponding Orissa Revenue Service Group ‘B’ posts – To the
contrary, some of them participated in the proceedings of the D.P.C.
convened on 30.04.2013 for recruitment to the newly created Orissa
Revenue Service Group ‘B’ cadre – Judgment of the Division Bench
set aside – Orissa Administrative Service, Class II (Recruitment)
Rules, 1978 – Orissa Administrative Service, Class-II (Appointment
by Promotion and Selection) Regulations, 1978 – Orissa
Administrative Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of
Service) Rules, 2011 – Orissa Revenue Service (Recruitment) Rules,
2011.
Practice & Procedure – In limine dismissal of SLP – Effect of
– Held: Dismissal of a S.L.P. in limine simply implies that the case
before the court was not considered worthy of examination for a
reason, which may be other than the merits of the case – Such in
limine dismissal at the threshold without giving any detailed reasons,
does not constitute any declaration of law or a binding precedent
u/Art.141 – Constitution of India – Art.141.
Allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1.1 Contesting Respondents cannot claim an
accrued or vested right for selection or promotion to OAS Class
-II posts in the year 2008, merely on the basis of their names
being forwarded by the respective Departmental Authorities.
When the recruitment process for 2008 was initiated vide Letter
dated April 28, 2008 by the State, the extant rules and regulations
occupying the field for selection and promotion to OAS Class-II
posts were the Orissa Administrative Service, Class II
(Recruitment) Rules, 1978  and the Orissa Administrative Service,
Class-II (Appointment by Promotion and Selection) Regulations,
1978. Rule 6 of the OAS Class II Rules, 1978 provided
for the determination of vacancies by the State Government.
[Paras 7.1-7.3] [208-B-D]
1.2 Rule 3 of the OAS Class II, Rules 1978 provided that
recruitment to OAS Class II posts was to be made by three
methods– first, direct recruitment by competitive examination
[Rule 3(a)]; second, promotion from amongst Gazetted Officers
of a certain class [Rule 3(b)]; and third, selection of non-Gazetted
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Officers [Rule 3(c)]. The proportion of candidates to be recruited
by the metho

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