HIMANSHU KUMAR VERMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) W.P.(C) No. 109/2019 has been preferred by two petitioners to assail the order dated 20.12.2018 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi (the Tribunal) in O.A. No. 4576/2018. The petitioners also seek a writ of certiorari quashing the notification dated 19.12.2018 issued under Rule 5(1) of the Indian Police Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 by the Central Government, allocating the cadres to the candidates allocated to the Indian Police Service (IPS) on the basis of the results of the Civil Services Examination (CSE), 2017. The petitioners also seek a writ of mandamus to the respondents to issue a new list allocating the respective cadres to the selected IPS candidates in the CSE, 2017, purely on the basis of merit and preferences indicated in the online form, by correctly interpreting the Office Memorandum (OM) dated 05.09.2017.

(2.) W.P.(C) Nos. 862/2019, 864/2019, and W.P.(C) No. 869/2019 have been preferred by the petitioners directly to this Court, without preferring Original Applications before the Tribunal to seek similar relief as in W.P. (C) No. 109/2019. The further particulars of these petitions are as follows: (A) The petitioners in W.P.(C) Nos. 862/2019 and 864/2019 have been allocated to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) on the basis of CSE, 2017 and they are aggrieved by the allocation of cadres by the Central Government vide communication dated 03.12.2018. The said petitioners also seek a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to undertake the task of cadre allocation strictly in accordance with the terms and mandate of the cadre allocation policy contained in the OM dated 05.09.2017. (B) The petitioners in W.P.(C) No. 869/2019 have directly approached this Court to assail the notification dated 19.12.2018 (which is also assailed in W.P.(C.) No.109/2019). The petitioners in this writ petition have also been allocated to the IPS on the basis of CSE, 2017. They also seek a writ of mandamus to the respondents to undertake the task of drawing a new list as per the cadre allocation policy contained in the OM dated 05.09.2017.

(3.) The reason given by the writ petitioners in W.P.(C.) Nos. 862/2019, 864/2019 and 869/2019 for directly approaching this Court, and not approaching the Tribunal in the first instance, is that the Tribunal has already taken a view in the matter in O.A. No. 4576/2018 and, thus, it would serve no useful purpose for them to approach the Tribunal in the first instance with their grievance. They also state that there is grave urgency in the matter, which has also been noticed in the impugned order dated 20.12.2018 passed by the Tribunal in O.A. No. 4576/2018.