# THE SCHEDULE CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES OFFICERS' WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANR

- **Citation:** [1996] Supp. 6 S.C.R. 544
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1996-09-19
- **Bench:** K. Ramaswamy, Faizan Uddin, G.B. Pattanaik
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/the-schedule-castes-and-scheduled-tribes-officers-welfare-council-v-state-of-14814
- **Pages:** 22

## Headnote

Se1vice Law :
C
U.P. Regulation of Ad hoc Appointment (On Posts Within 171e PwvieWi
Of The Public SelVice Commission) Rules 1979:
Provincial Medical Health services-Reservation in pri.01110tion-Promotion· to posts of Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Chief Medical
Officer Additional Director, Director-Fixing minimum length of serD viCl--Memorandum dated July 28, 1986 increasing the minimum length of
se1Vice-ln view of the new C1ite1ia three officers be/ongiilg to S Cf ST were
denied their entitlement to promotion as Chief Medical Officers and Joint
Directors-ReselVation Policy should be strictly adhered to and not left to the
whims of officers to introduce their own criteria contrary to the general
E po/icy-Department not preparing separate list of general candidates,
Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes in integrating the111 as per the roster
prepared ~y the Govemment-Obviozisly it is an illegal procedure fallowed t<?
deprive the officers belonging to SC, ST and Backward Classes in integrating
their seniority according to rostef--Hence the Memo dated July 28, 1986 and
all other i11cide11tal instructions issued i11 furtherance thereof are
F
quashed-Govemment to consider the cases of the three officers and all other
eligible officers according to 1Ules in vogue from 1973 till the date of introducing the offending ntles--If necessary to create supemumer01y posts i11 the
respective vacancies to which the three officers are eligible to be co11sidered
and promoted in accordance with the rules with all consequential
G benefits-Directions issued.
Constitution of India-A1ticle l6-Rese1vation in Promotion.
Consumer Educatio11 & Research Centre & Ors. v. Union of India &
Ors., (1995) 3 SCC 432; Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. & Anr. v. Union of
H India & Ors. Etc., JT (1996) 4 SC 555; Mur/idhar Dayandeo Kesekar v.
544
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
545
Vishwanath Pandu Barde & Anr., [1995] Supp. 2 SCC 549; Bihar State A
Electricity Board & Ors. v. Panneshwar Kumar Agarwala Etc. Etc., JT (1996)
5 SC 555; State of U.P. v. Dr. R.K. Tandon, [1995] 3 SCC 616 and State of
U.P. & Ors. v. Dr. R.K. Tandon & Ors., JT (1996) 7 SC 174, relied on.
Indra Sawlzney v. Union of India, [1992] Supp. 3 SCC 217, referred
to.
B
"Constitutional Law of India" edited by M. H-idayatullah, former Chief
Justice (Vol. II) at pages 294; Swami Vivekanand : Lecture entitled "The
Before Us" ( 1897) published in "The Complete Works of Swami Viveka11a11d"
(Vol. 3, p. 269 (1979 edn.) Swami Ranganathananda: "Enlightened Speeches" C
(First Edition), 1985; "Law, Justice and the Philosophy of Man", by Swami
Ranganathananda; Swami Ranganathananda "Social Responsibilities of
Public Administration" an article in "The Responsible Society-17ie Ethos of
which India Lacks Today" a commemorative volume to Justice V.S. Deshpande, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court; "Eternal Values for a
Changing Society" by Swami Ranganathananda (1971-3rd Edn.) page 693, D
SA. de Smith "17ie abuse of statutory powers; "Ultra vires breach of statutory
duty" by Peter Cane, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, OJ..ford, published in
Public Law Seties, 1981 p. 11; "Public Administration" by Pfiffner-presthus
(4th Edn.) p. 550; "Responsibility in Government : Theory and Practice" by
Herbert J. Spiro; "British Government and the Constitution-Test, Cases and E
Materials" by Colin Twpin (Third Edition-1995) p. 315 & "The Nature and
Destiny and Man" Vol. II (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948) pp.
266 561, referred to.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (C) No. 621 of
1987.
F
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.)
D.N. Goburdan, Ms. Pinky Anand and Ms. Geeta Luthra for the the
Petitioner.
R.C. Verma for Ashok K. Srivastava, A.K. Goel, Mrs. M. Qamaruddin and M. Qamaruddin for the Respondents.
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
G
This writ petition under Article 32 was referred to a Bench of three H
546
SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A
Judges to decide an im

## Text

_Characters 0–39,747 of 55,618. This is a partial read: ask again with offset=39747 for what follows._

•
A
THE SCHEDULE CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES
OFFICERS' WELFARE COUNCIL
v.
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANR.
B
SEPTEMBER 19, 1996
[K. RAMASWAMY, FAIZAN UDDIN AND G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.]
Se1vice Law :
C
U.P. Regulation of Ad hoc Appointment (On Posts Within 171e PwvieWi
Of The Public SelVice Commission) Rules 1979:
Provincial Medical Health services-Reservation in pri.01110tion-Promotion· to posts of Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Chief Medical
Officer Additional Director, Director-Fixing minimum length of serD viCl--Memorandum dated July 28, 1986 increasing the minimum length of
se1Vice-ln view of the new C1ite1ia three officers be/ongiilg to S Cf ST were
denied their entitlement to promotion as Chief Medical Officers and Joint
Directors-ReselVation Policy should be strictly adhered to and not left to the
whims of officers to introduce their own criteria contrary to the general
E po/icy-Department not preparing separate list of general candidates,
Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes in integrating the111 as per the roster
prepared ~y the Govemment-Obviozisly it is an illegal procedure fallowed t<?
deprive the officers belonging to SC, ST and Backward Classes in integrating
their seniority according to rostef--Hence the Memo dated July 28, 1986 and
all other i11cide11tal instructions issued i11 furtherance thereof are
F
quashed-Govemment to consider the cases of the three officers and all other
eligible officers according to 1Ules in vogue from 1973 till the date of introducing the offending ntles--If necessary to create supemumer01y posts i11 the
respective vacancies to which the three officers are eligible to be co11sidered
and promoted in accordance with the rules with all consequential
G benefits-Directions issued.
Constitution of India-A1ticle l6-Rese1vation in Promotion.
Consumer Educatio11 & Research Centre & Ors. v. Union of India &
Ors., (1995) 3 SCC 432; Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. & Anr. v. Union of
H India & Ors. Etc., JT (1996) 4 SC 555; Mur/idhar Dayandeo Kesekar v.
544
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
545
Vishwanath Pandu Barde & Anr., [1995] Supp. 2 SCC 549; Bihar State A
Electricity Board & Ors. v. Panneshwar Kumar Agarwala Etc. Etc., JT (1996)
5 SC 555; State of U.P. v. Dr. R.K. Tandon, [1995] 3 SCC 616 and State of
U.P. & Ors. v. Dr. R.K. Tandon & Ors., JT (1996) 7 SC 174, relied on.
Indra Sawlzney v. Union of India, [1992] Supp. 3 SCC 217, referred
to.
B
"Constitutional Law of India" edited by M. H-idayatullah, former Chief
Justice (Vol. II) at pages 294; Swami Vivekanand : Lecture entitled "The
Before Us" ( 1897) published in "The Complete Works of Swami Viveka11a11d"
(Vol. 3, p. 269 (1979 edn.) Swami Ranganathananda: "Enlightened Speeches" C
(First Edition), 1985; "Law, Justice and the Philosophy of Man", by Swami
Ranganathananda; Swami Ranganathananda "Social Responsibilities of
Public Administration" an article in "The Responsible Society-17ie Ethos of
which India Lacks Today" a commemorative volume to Justice V.S. Deshpande, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court; "Eternal Values for a
Changing Society" by Swami Ranganathananda (1971-3rd Edn.) page 693, D
SA. de Smith "17ie abuse of statutory powers; "Ultra vires breach of statutory
duty" by Peter Cane, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, OJ..ford, published in
Public Law Seties, 1981 p. 11; "Public Administration" by Pfiffner-presthus
(4th Edn.) p. 550; "Responsibility in Government : Theory and Practice" by
Herbert J. Spiro; "British Government and the Constitution-Test, Cases and E
Materials" by Colin Twpin (Third Edition-1995) p. 315 & "The Nature and
Destiny and Man" Vol. II (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948) pp.
266 561, referred to.
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (C) No. 621 of
1987.
F
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.)
D.N. Goburdan, Ms. Pinky Anand and Ms. Geeta Luthra for the the
Petitioner.
R.C. Verma for Ashok K. Srivastava, A.K. Goel, Mrs. M. Qamaruddin and M. Qamaruddin for the Respondents.
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
G
This writ petition under Article 32 was referred to a Bench of three H
546
SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A
Judges to decide an important question of constitutional dimension raised
in this case.
B
c
Admittedly, in the Health Department of Government of U.P. called
Provincial Medical Health Services (for short, the 'Services') recruitment
to the post of Doctors and promotion up to the post of Director were
regulated by executive instructions of the Government and fr:om the year
1973 Government had appointed the doctors to the service. Until the U.P.
Regulation of Ad hoc Appointment (On Posts Within The Purview Of The
Public Service Commission) Rules, 1979 were made by the Governor, in
exercise of power under proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution, all the
appointments and also promotions came to be made on ad hoc basis. The
petitioner-Association is seeking for a writ to quash the memo dated July
28, 1986 and for declaration that promotions made within the cadre shall
be on the basis of seniority subject to rejection on ground of unfitness and
to regularise the services of all the officers in the cadre as per instructions
D as were in vogue prior to the date of that memo and other reliefs;
E
F
The admitted position from the record, is that the Personnel Department of the Government has issued model rules to all the departments to
exercise the power under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution and
to frame the statutory rules for appointment made in accordance with the
rules. Pending making of the Rules, ad hoc appointments could be made
but it would be for one year and as soon as regular appointments were
made, the ad hoc. appointments were to be regularised in accordance with
the rules. In this case, admittedly, no statutory rules were made nor the
procedure even as per instructions in force, was followed. Adhocism was
the rule at the whim of the Department of Medical Health. In the Services, ·
as per !nstructions in vogue, appointment to the post of Doctor could be
made from amongst qualified doctors and diploma-holders. For promotion .
from the post of Medical Officer to the post of Deputy Medical Officers
etc., qualifications and experience have been prescribed. Prior to July 28,
1986, for promotion to the post to Deputy Chief Medical Officer exG perience of eight years of service was prescribed and for promotion to the
post of Chief Medical Officer, two years'experience as Deputy Chief
Medical Officer was prescribed. Similarly, for promotion to the post of
Joint Director, -two years' experience as Chief Medical Officer was
prescribed; for promotion to the post of Additional Director, two years'
H experience as Joint Director was prescribed; and for promotion to the post
,.
.,
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
547
of Director, one years experience as Additional Director but on the basis A
of merit and ability, was prescribed. For all other posts, seniority, subject
to rejection on the ground of. unfitness, was the rule. No minimum length
of service was prescribed.
In the offending Memo dated July 28, 1986, they have increased the
minimum length of service from 8 years to 12 years for promotion from the
post of Medical Officer to the post of Deputy Chief Medical Officer and
to 15 years for promotion from Deputy Chief Medical Officer to the post
B
c
of Chief Medical Officer with a minimum experience of two years and
selection would be subject to merit and ability. Similarly, for promotion
from the post of Chief Medical Officer to the post of Joint Director, total
service of 15 years and minimum experience of one year was prescribed.
Merit and ability was prescribed for promotion from the post of Joint
Director to the post of Additional Director; total length of service
prescribed was 25 years with a minimum of four years' service as Joint
Director subject to merit and ability. For promotion from the post of D
Additional Director to the post of Director, total service of 28 years with
minimum qualifying service of one year subject to merit and ability, was
the criteria. In normal circumstances, such prescription laying down minimum service as qualification would be unexceptionable to augment the
efficiency in the Services and would evoke no ire. But whether it was laid
only as pretext and subterfuge to deny the constitutional right and to
frustrate the constitutional objective is the question. In the first instance,
we reacted against the contentions of Sri Goburdhan, learned counsel for
the petitioner. But when he ripped apart the veil and succeeded in connecting the links as camouflage, the game plan became transperently visible
and naked to indicate that colourable exercise of power was used and
abused to denude the legitimate rights of the officers belonging to reserved
categories and to deny them of their rights. Sri Verma, very fairly, was
unable to support the actions of the Department.
E
F
Sri Goburdhan contend that this procedure was devised only to avoid
promotion to three eligible officers belonging to the Scheduled Castes and G
Scheduled Tribes as Joint Directors etc. and this was demonstrated with
reference to the instructions issued by the Personnel Department and the
successive orders issued by the respondents. It is not in dispute that the
Personnel Department had issued instructions on December 27, 1956 that
the principle of seniority-cum-rejection on the ground of being unfit for H
548
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A selection as eligibility criteria should strictly be observed. Where eligible
and able persons are available in Government service, opportunity should
be given to all. If no suitable and experienced officer is available, there is
a possibility of worsenining in future of the persons facing the seniority
criteria. The Government, therefore, directed that seniority-cum-rejection
B
c
D
E
F
on the ground of being unfit be followed in promotion. The eligible persons
should be offered opportunity. This principle eversince is being followed
uniformly in all the Departments. In Memo No. E-210/80-SR-25-77 Personnel 1 dated April 9, 1980, the Government had issued instruction to
frame the statutory rules and the manner and procedure to select the
personnel was indicated and deviation as laid in para 5, which is relevant,
reads as under:
"5. This has also been decided by the State Government that if in
adopting the provision as laid down in the enclosed model draft
there comes any difficulty then instead thereof, as an exception
and in special circumstances, if there is necessary to make any
other arrangement in public interest then it may be done only after
the consultation with the Karmik (personnel) and Judicial department with the higher orders (Council of Ministers of equivalent)
or it' can be continued."
The Personnel Department further issued directions on December
31, 1973 that there was a provision for reservation as per the orders of the
Government dated March 8, 1973 for. the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled
Tribe persons in promotions. It read as under :
"The Government has taken decision that the SC/ST will avail the
benefits of reservation in service and posts on which the promotion
is made on seniority basis and the promotions is done in the
prescribed manner."
The Government have, therefore, reiterated the decision that SC/STs
G officers will avail of the benefit of reservation in services and posts and also
in promotion. The principle of promotion is made on seniority basis subject
to rejection on the ground of unfitness and the promotion is done in the
prescribed manner.
But, in this case, instead of implementing the Government directions
H in promoting those three officers as per rules, the off ending criteria was
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
549
introduced. It is not in dispute that the Government have issued that in A
case any special circumstances are made out in derogation to the general
principles, the approval of the Personnel Department, Law Department
and the Cabinet Sub-Committee was required to be obtained before issuing
the special rules governing the Services. But, in this case, admittedly, the
Medical Health Department in deviation of the general principle of B
seniority, subject to rejection on the ground of unfitness, introduced merit
and ability to fill up that post of Chief Medical Officer and upwards,
without obtaining prior approval of those three functionaries. The counsel
for the petitioner contends members of the petitioner association also do
not feel shy to compete on merit and ability provided their cases were
considered honestly, sincerely and objectively without pre-disposed C
prejudice.
In the counter-affidavit, it has not been stated that the Department
had obtained approval of the three authorities. Therefore, the offending
resolution was obviously contrary to the general principles laid down by D
Government. It is also brought out from the orders passed by the Department itself the from 1973 till January 12, 1986 the rule of seniority-cumrejection on the ground of unfitness was in vogue and they did not insist
upon a minimum qualifying service in each of the promotional post except
the minimum experience in the particular post which was prescribed for
promotion. It is also to be noted that the Department had relaxed the E
above prescribed qualifying and minimum length of service immediately
after six months when claim of general candidates had come up for
consideration and after the promotion was given to the general candidates
the rule was restored. The petitioner have specifically pleaded that the rule
of minimum qualifying service was prescribed only to deny the promotion F
to three eligible officers belonging to SCs/STs because they did not have,
while the general candidats had the prescribed total length of service. In
paragraphs 9 and 10 of the writ petition, they have specifically averred and
in para 25 of additional affidavit it is reiterated giving insistence in that
behalf. In paragraph 25 of the counter-affidavit filed by the respondents,
they vaguely denied that relaxation to general candidates in the interest of G
administration was given. When the petitioners pointed out that other
Departments were not insisting upon the administrative experience, merit
and ability upon the minimum qualifying service, it has been stated in the
counter-affidavit that since the promotee officers up to the level of Chief
Medical Officer, Joint Director, Additional Director are required to have H
550
SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.Q..
A
administrative experience, minimum qualifying service etc. were insisted
upon. But when it was pointed out that in other Departments administrative officers were not required to put up minimum qualifying service, they
have stated in the counter- affidavit that in other Department, it was not
insisted upon since the posts are administrative posts. The stand taken in
B the counter-affidavit is mutually inconsistent and blows hot and cold at the
same time. It is a volte face justification given by the Department only1ojustify their arbitrary and ma la fide action. As soon as the Scheduled Caste
and the Scheduled Tribe officers were eliminated from consideration and
general candidates were promoted, they looked around and found it safe
to retrace their steps and to fall in general line by restoring the rule of
C minimum length of service, merit and ability and qualifying service. This
gets demonstrated by the above undisputed facts.
It is also seen that when the post of Additional Director became
vacant for general candidates only and when they were not available for
D promotion since they did not have required length of minimum qualifying
service, the Department relaxed the requirement of minimum qualifying
service on the specious plea that services of the officers were required.
They have stated that they were the only special circumstances for the
officers concerned. Again, after the officers from general category were
promoted, the general prescription of qualifying service was insisted upon.
E These circumstances clearly would indicate that the persons manning the
Department are using a policy of pick and choose to suit their convenience
in abuse of colourable exercise of power creating disharmony in policy and
resorting to victimisation of the eligible officers since they belong to
reserved category. There circumstances would clearly and in unmistakable
F
terms demonstrate that the aforesaid instructions came to be issued by
mala fide exercise of the power by the concerned officers with a view to
deprive the eligible SC/ST officers for promotion to the posts to which they
are entitled as Chief Medical Officers and Joint Directors.
G
Under JHe scheme of the Constitution the political executive headed
by the Governor of the State is assisted by the Chief Minister appointed
by the Governor and the Council of Ministers appoin~d on the advice of
the Chief Minister who would be collectively responsible for the administrat.ion of the State. The administration is carried on by and in the
name of the Governor but the Chief Minister, Council of Minister and the
H individual Ministers in charge of the assigned subjects individually and
)
SC;ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
551
collectively are responsible for the functioning of the concerned Ministry. A
The Constitution further envisages permanent bureaucracy with all India
services and State services envisaged in Part XIV; their recruitment and
conditions of service are regulated by provisions contained in Chapter XIV
or any Acts of Legislature or the rules made under proviso to Article 309
of the Constitution or even executive instructions co-extensive with the
legislative power of the State Legislature. The political executive lays
broadly the policies and programmes consistent with their political
manifesto but should be in conformity with the Directive Principles of the
State Policy which binds the Government in power and also the Fundamental Rights. The bureaucracy works out the details of the policy and applies
the law to the given circumstances in assisting the political executive. The
preamble, the fundamental rights and the directive principles envisage
establishment of an egalitarian social order to accord socio-economic
justice, liberty. equality or status and of opportunity, dignity of person and
fraternity in an integrated Bharat. The Indian social order is based on
hierarchical social structure. Since the Scheduled Tribes habitate in
reserved forests and forest areas, the funding fathers of the Constitution
recognised and protected their special interests in Schedules V and VI to
·the Constitution so as to integrate them in the mainstream of the national
life. Equally, the Schedule Castes who were denied social integration and
kept away from the mainstream of the national life due to practice of
untouchability abolished by Article 17 are protected from discrimination.
In Part III of the Constitution, in particular Articles 17 and 15(2) enable
them to have access to public places and denial of equality due to untouchability was declared to be constitutional offence punishable under
Civil Rights Protection Act; Articles 14, 16 and 15 grant equality. Article
46 protects them from exploitation and directs the State to accord socioeconomic justice, facilities and opportunities to have opportunities for
appointment to an office/service/post so as to accord soio-economic justice
for their integration in the mainstream of national life. The social imbalances should be removed only through rule of law. Law is a social engineer.
B
c
D
E
F
The social justice was held to be a fundamental right by a Bench of three
Judges in Consumer Education & Research Centre & Ors. v. Union of India G
& Ors., 1995] 3 SCC 432 and Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. & Anr. v. Union
of India & Ors. Etc., JT (1996) 4 SC 555. Economic empowerment was also
held by a Bench of three Judges in Mur/idhar Dayandeo Kesekar v. Vishwanath Pandu Barde & Anr., {1995] Supp. 2 SCC 549 and Bihar State
Electricity Board & Ors. v. Panneshwar Kumar Ag01wala Etc. Etc., JT (1996)
5 SC 555 to be fundamental right available to them. By operation of Article H
552
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1996) SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
A 38 and 46, in particular, facilities and opportunities are required to be
provided to them to improve their excellence in all spheres of life. The
State, therefore, has evolved, as held by this Court in Indra Sawhney v.
Union of India, [1992) Supp. 3 SCC 217 appointment or employment to an
office particularly in the service under the State as means to provide -
B
c
facilities and opportunities for employment. The opportunity for education
given under Article 15( 4) and employment accord to them right to equality
;
of opportunity and of status and the dignity of person, economic empowerment and opportunity to improve excellence. The Constitution (77th
Amendment) Act, 1995 introducing clause ( 4A) of Article 16 made
provision for reservation iQ matters of promotion of any class or classes of
posts in service under the State in favour of Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes which in the opinion of the State are not adequately
represented in the services under the State. Article 335 of the Constitution
enjoins upon the State to take into consideration the claims of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in making appointments to
services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State,
D consistently with the maintenance of· efficiency of administration. It is
settled law that conditions of services include everything from cradle to
grave, viz., recruitment to service or posts under the State, promotion,
salary, pension etc. The conditions of services are regulated either by
statautory rules or in their absence executive instructions. There is no need
E for pre-existing statutory rules to regulate the conditions of services.
Proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution gives power to the President or
the Governor, as the case may be, subject to law made by the Parliament/the State Legislature to constitute services and to regulate the service
F
conditions by making statutory rules go~erning the conditions of si::rvice.
Under Article 162, the executive has the power to issue executive ir\structions consistent with the fundamental rights in Chapter III, to regulate
conditions of service but they are subject to the law made by the State
Legislature or the Rules made by the Governor under proviso to Article
309 of the Constitution. Executive instructions can also be made to supplement the law to fill in the yawning gaps. The permanent bureaucracy,
G therefore, in evolving the principles or giving shape to the policy of the
political executive on in applying the law, rules or instructions, is guided
by constitutional philosophy and public policy envisaged thereunder. Article 261 of the Constitution, therefore, accords full faith and credit to the
executive acts and records of the Union and the States, the law made by
the Parliament or the Legislature or such of the rules or regulations etc.
H made in furtherance thereof as well as judicial proceedings of the Union
(
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
553
and of every State.
In the "Constitutional Law of India" edited by M. Hidaytullah, former
Chief Justice (Vol. II) at pages 294, on the doctrine of "full faith and credit"
A
it is stated that relationship between the Union and the States leaves
Article 261 to play greater role than its counter-part does in the U.S.
Constitution. Our experience since the formation of the Constitution fully B
supports this" conclusion. The public acts, records and judicial proceedings,
.... in recognition of law, accorded by Article 261 are in accord with Entry 12
of the Concurrent List subject to the law made by the Parliament in clause
(2) of Article 261". The founding fathers of the Constitution posed full faith
and credit under Article 261 to all the enumerated acts, proceedings etc.
with absolute faith that they are done to further the goals set down in the
Preamble, the basic structure of the Constitution. But the crux of the
matter is not the grammer of the language but the spirit behind the doctrine
of full faith and credit. The reason is that the political executive assisted
c
by the permanent bureaucracy faithfully impiements the constitutional
philosophy and applies the law to further the goals set down in the D
Constitution to establish the egalitarian social order under the rule of law
and applies the law objectively, dispassionately and truthfully to elongate
the constitutional perspectives and the objectives of the law made thereunder. Therefore, full faith and credit is accorded to the public acts and
records. That apart, the same may be relied on by other States.
Swami Vivekanand in his lecture entitled "The Work Before Us"
(1897) published in "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda" (vol. 3,
p. 269 (1979 adn.) has stated the scope of enlightened citizenship thus :
E
"The problem of life is becoming deeper and broader every day as F
the world moves on. The watchword and the essence have been
preached in the days of yore when the V edantic truth was first
discovered, the solidarity of all life. One atom in the universe
cannot move without dragging the whole world along with it. There
cannot be any progress with the whole world following in the wake, G
and it is becoming every day clearer that the solution of any
problem can, never be attained on racial, or national, or narrow
grounds. Every idea has to become broad till it covers the whole
of this world, every aspiration must go on increasing till it has
engulfed the whole of humanity, nay the whole of life, within its
scope. This will explain why our country for the last two centuries H
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
H
554
SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1996] SUPP. 6 S.C.R.
has not been what she was in the past. We find that one of the
causes which led to this degeneration was the narrowing of our
view, narrowing the scope of our actions".
Swami Ranganathananda in his Inaugural Address at Swami
Vivekananda Auditorium, speaking on the concept of enlightened citizenship as envisaged in Gita and its relevance in a democracy has stated in
"Enlightened Speeches" (First Edition, 1985) a publication of Ramakrishna
Mission, New Delhi, thus :
"That is the primary status of man in India since 1950 -
sovereign and free citizens in a sovering democratic republic. Since
then, we have been re-living in India the ancient and modern
V{estern political experience, in a big way, and learning our lessens
in this new experience of, and adpating it into, a nation-wide
political democracy, in the context of immense human diversities
and complex social structures, of a continental size and millenniaold cultural traditions, which would have staggered the leaders of
the simple Greek city states. The several national and state elections since independence have given a democratic political education to our people, which we never had in our millennia-old history.
The Constitution treats the entire people of India as sovereign and
free; none is treated as slaves or as outside that citizenship all the
people of India are transformed into citizens of a free democratic
state. What a beautiful concept and ex.Perience.
It is a big change from subjection to freedom, from being praja
or subject to citizenship. But it is unfortunate that we did not
understand its implications or appreciate its significance; and we
failed to take sustained energetic steps to assimilate the beauty and
strength of this citizenship concept and value. After experiencing
the ectasy of it during the first flag hoisting ceremony on the 26th
January 1950, we day by- day forgot all about it. We did not give
serious thought to the question, what does it mean to be citizens
of a free democracy? What changes should this statuts produce in
myself, in my attitude and in my behaviour, to be able to deserve
this status and to strengthen my new democratic state? After a
little effervescence of a day or two, that ectasy of freedom slowly
evaported away. The consciousness of being a free citizen, and
what it involved during the modern period of our history, had
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dawned only in few people of our country. That has been our A
nation's misfortune. If during these thirty years, our intelligentsia,
constituted of our school-and-college-educated section, had realB
ized and assimilated the meaning of citizenship, what political and
economic strength, what human energy resources, what shall-round
national progress we would have achieved by now. In our Indian
context at least, therefore, we have to introduce this new term,
namely enlightned citizenship, making a distinction between mere
political adult citizenship and enlightened citizenship. It is like the
milk in our Indian market where we have to ask for pure milk,
unlike in the West where our people, when they go there find an
adjective sounds puzzling and absured to the people there, since C
all milk there is pure".
At page 259, under the heading "Citizenship on the Focus of Human
Equality", he has stated elaborately that we are primarily citizens of India
and secondarily only these and other !;imilar functionaries. All these are
only the functions that we severally perform as citizens of the country. He D
emphasised the unity of awareness of citizenship to elongate wider
spectrum of functional affinity by getting rid of all forms of mental aberations from the humble to the high and the mighty and to widen broad
mental horizens. He quoted from Bhartrhari in his Niti-sataka (verse 64)
the four qualities of man thus :
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"There is one type of people called the sat-purusas, good people,
who sacrifice their own self-interest and work for the welfare of
other people; the next group consists of the samanyas, the
generality, or the majority, who also work for the welfare of other
people, but without sacrificing their own self-interest; there are F
other .the third group are the manava-raksasas, demons among
men, who destroy other people's welfare in order to gain their own
selfish interests; but they the fourth group on the contrary - alas,
I do not know what to call them - destory other people's welfare,
even without gaining anything for themselves."
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"The second group will constitute the majority of the population
in every society. And enlightened citizenship belongs to that
category. The Philosophy by which they live can also be described,
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philosophy, as enlightened self-interest. They are frankly not ascetics; they have their own presonal and family interests to achieve;
but they include these in a wider concern for society as a whole;
and that constitutes the vital element of enlightenment attached to
their self-interest. But there is need for this group to be alert;
otherwise, there is every chance of this enlightenment getting
eroded and self-interest ruling supreme. And once this erosion
takes place, they slide slowly down and join the third group, among
whom are found all those who indulge in all sorts of social malpractices, like bribery, corruption, tax-evasion, smuggling, food and
drug adulteration. Out of these, some fall further down into the
fourth category and become sheer vandals. The only remedy
against the second type sliding into the third and fourth categories
is alterness, and constant looking up to the people of the first
category - the sat-purusas and drawing inspiration from that small
minority of men and women who are, in the language of Jes us in
New Testament, the 'salt of the earth'."
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"Human equality at the spiritual level has been preached and
practised in our country since ages. This is the meaning of, and is
derived from, the Vedantic teaching of the same divine Atman in
all beings - integral, inalienable, and full, and the samatvam and
the sama-darsitvam, '~quality and sameness of vision', flowing from
it. A few sanints and devotees had realized this truth and lived by
it. Bhakter jat nai, 'There is no caste and class distinction among
devotees of God (as he dwells in all)', is a famous saying of Sri
Ramakrishna. This great truth had never been translated into the
wide social and economic fields, or transformed into a social fact
of human awareness affecting millions. But that opportunity has
come to us in the modern age, through the massage of modern
democracy - political, economic, and social. That sama-darsityam
at the spiritual level becomes, today, buttressed and strengthened
by ~ sama-darsitvam at the political and social level, by the modern
concept and practice of citizenship of a democratic state.
Democratic citizenship is a focus of not only human freedom. and
dignity but also of human equality. Swami Vivekananda considered
the significance of the emerging modern period of our history to
consist essentially in this practical implementation of the Vedantic
SC/ST OFFICERS WELFARE COUNCIL v. STATE
557
vision of human freedom, dignity and equality. In our new India, A
therefore, political efforts and spiritual efforts coalesce and reinforce each other, in the struggle to evolve an egalitarian society;
the spiritual effort stresses human unity in the one Atman in all,
and political effort stresses human unity in the unity of citizenship
in our democracy."
On "Law, Justice and the Philosophy of Man", Swami Ranganathananda has stated thus :
"Our country is now discussing, and tardily going about affording,
legal aid to the poor; it is good that we are slowly realizing that
administering and dispensing law may not always be the same as
dispensing justice, and that our democracy cannot be well established without bringing law closest to justice. Theoritically, our law
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is equal to all, and all are· equal before our law. But in actual
operation, it benefits the rich and the strong, not the poor and the
weak. The Sanskrit word dharma stands for the integrating prin- D
ciple in human society and can be translated roughly as justice or
righteousness or ethical sense. Next to the truth of the Atman, it
i& the most significant and pervasive truth and value in Indian
culture. Dharma is that very truth of the Atman reflected in the
social context of human interactions. The Brhadarnyaka
Upanishad gives the following exposition of dharma as righteousness, as the soul of justice :
Yet He (the Cosmic Person) did not flourish (even after
projecting all power into the universe - intellectual, politicomilitary, commercial and labour). He specially projected that excellent form, dharma, or righteousness. This dharma is the
controller of the Ksatriya (the holder of power and authority).
Therefore there is nothing higher than that, even a weak man hopes
(to defeat) a stronger man through dharma, as (one contending)
with the king. That dharma is verily truth.
Until law becomes not only in formulation but also in operation,
law has no meaning."
In "The Responsible Society - The Ethos of which India lacks Today",
a commemorative volume to Justice V.S. Deshpande, former Chief Justice
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558
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ministrators" Swami Ranganathananda has stated at page 1 thus :
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"I consider the administator primarily as a citizen of India and
I want him to always remember this truth. It will do him good to
know what that means. Nobody is bor1 an administrator, and
nobody is always an administrator. We are all born citizens of a
free India, and acquire the status of full citizenship at the age of
maturity as laid down under the Constitution. Some of those
mature citizens choose to be, and are called upon to become, our
administrators for some years of their life. This means that their
primary individuality is not as administrators, but as citizens. We
are all essentially citizens of free India called upon to perform
particular functions in the service of our nation, so that citizenship
constiutes our primary being, and what we do as administrators,
or as members of some other profession becomes merely the
function we discharge deriving inspiration from that being.:"
On "The Problem of Motivation", he has stated that bureaucracy is
necessary for every State which is part of the whole process of Government.
But a functionary need not be a bureaucrat, static and wooden, though
functioning as a bureaucrat. On "Bureaucracy : Static versus Dynamic" at
page 4, he has stated thus :
"A static bureaucracy and a dynamic bureaucracy are both
bu,reaucracies; the difference lies only in attitudes; the first repre-.
sents a low notion of man as a mere functionary, man as a mere
bureaucrat. That is a very poor state of man, in which he or she
draws from his or her function to enrich his or her inner being
which is otherwise empty; and this is the state of mind that is prone
to, and often succumbs to, corruption. The second represents man
as inwardly rich in his being, in the strength of citizenship awarness .and patriotic impulse, and pouring out the richness into his
or her function. And this attitude fosters a spirit of service and
contains much innate strength to resist and overcome corrupting
influences. In these context, attitude plays a great part. A change
of attitude can produce termendous results. And attitude is something that one can control, that one can manipulate, that one can
make to grow. This attitude control is an integral part of a
philosophy of man, which can enrich one's being as well as function."
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In his article "Role of the People and Institutions in a Responsible A
Society", published in "The Responsible Society" (ibid), Justice H.R. Khanna, former Judge of this Court has expressed his views at page 55 bout the
role of the civil servants and has stated that "Apart from ensuring that there
is no trespass by one wing of the State upon the domain of the other wings,
we have also to ensure that within each wing proper norms which have
been evolved for the healthy functioning of democracy are adhered to and
complied with. lt is in this context that one may first turn to the executive.
This is the· strongest wing of the State and consists of two parts - the
ministers and the civil servants. So far as the ministers are concerned it is
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they who normally take the policy decisions and lay down the general
pattern of administration. The execution of those decisions and the applicaC
tion of policy matters to individual cases is, however, tci be left to the civil
servants. The civil servants, therefore, of necessity, have to act in fulfilment
of the promises in the policy and the Constitution. It is the duty of the civil
servants to carry out the policies to fulfil the constitutional objectives and
the responsibility of the government".
In "Eternal Values for a Changing Society" by Swami Ranganathananda (1971 - 3rd Edn.) at page 693, the pragmatic philosopher
had in his speech advised the young Indian Administrative Officers, stating
under the heading"The Administrator in a Welare State" that the State in
a democratic society deives its strength from the co-ordinated wills of all
its free and equal citizens. In the absence of this strength, the State
becomes an imposition on the people. States have always been looked upon
as irksome burdens by the people at large in our country, who have
tolerated their existence for the little benefits of order and security derived
from them.