R. PADMANABHAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) O . P. No. 12775 of 1991 is the leading case and I shall set forth the facts therein in the first instance.

(2.) THE petitioner is a member of the Indian Police Service, allotted to the Kerala Cadre. He was the Deputy Inspector General of Police. Northern Range, at Kozhikode at the relevant time, namely February 1989.

(3.) THE Government of India had evolved a scheme for grant of reward to informers and government servants in the case of seizures, evasion of payment of duty and the like detected under the provisions of the Customs Act, The Central Excise and Salt Act, the Gold Control Act and the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. The quantum of reward as well as the eligibility criteria are laid down in the guidelines, a copy of which is Ext. P1. It is the eligibility of the petitioner to participate in the reward in respect of the aforesaid seizure that form the bone of contention in this writ petition. To cut a long story short, the petitioner's claim for reward was rejected by the Government of India by their communications Exts. P5, and P6 and P7 in the view that officers higher in rank than Assistant Collector of Customs and Central Excise and officers of equivalent rank in other departments are not eligible for reward. The petitioner thus lost his claim, though he had spearheaded and masterminded the operations, which resulted in the seizure of the large quantity of contraband gold.