JAMES JUSTUS DANIEL Vs. BOARD OF REVENUE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE three writ petitions have been heard together since they involve a common question concerning the validity of the State Government's action in amending rule 27 of the Kerala State and Subordinate Service Rules,1958(hereinafter referred to as the Rules)by introducing a second proviso to sub rules(a)and(b)of the said rule with retrospective effect from 17th December 1958.The said amendment was effected as per the notification G.O.( P)No.426/PD,dated 15th November 1972.

(2.) RULE 27 lays down the principles for reckoning the seniority of a person in a service,class,category,grade etc.In the rule as it stood prior to the amendment in question there was only one proviso the sub -rules(a)and(b)and those sub -rules together with the said proviso read as follows."

(3.) BEFORE we proceed to discuss the merits of the above contentions it will be useful to state briefly a few facts which constitute the background for the introduction of the aforesaid amendment in the rule.It would appear that prior to the formation of the United State of Travancore -Cochin a principle was being followed in the Travancore Government service to allow senior hands who had been passed over for promotion for want of test qualification to regain their seniority over their erstwhile junior,who had secured earlier promotions by reason of their possessing the test qualification,on the former getting themselves promoted to the higher category after acquiring the test qualification,provided that by that time the juniors had not already been confirmed in the higher post.Subsequent to the integration of Travancore and Cochin this principle was made applic­able to all the personnel in the service of the T.C.State as per the T.C.Government order R.Dis.No.8207/50/CS .,dated 7th May,1951.Even after the formation of the Kerala State the provisions of the said Government order continued to govern all the persons allotted to Kerala from the erstwhile T.C.State by virtue of the proviso to section 115(7)of the States Reorganisation Act,1956.The personnel allotted to this State front Madras were not,however,governed by the said Government order since their terms and conditions of service were regulated by the provisions con­tained in the relevant rules that were applicable to them in the Madras Service.This was the position until common service rules were formulated by the State of Kerala.Such unifiedprinciples applicable to all the personnel in the service of Kerala Government were promulgated by issuing the Rules on 17th December 1958.However,even while issuing such unified rules the operation of the T.C.Government G.O.dated 7th May 1951 was saved by engrafting a proviso to sub -rules(a)and(b)of rule 27 of the Rules stating that nothing contained in those sub -rules shall be deemed to have superseded the said order of the Travancore -Cochin Govern­ment in respect of any person who was already in service on the date of coming into force of the Rules.The effect of the said proviso was clearly to keep alive the provisions of the G.O.dated 7th May,1951 in respect of persons who were governed by the said order at the time of commence­ment of the Rules.