C R CHANDRASEKHARA MENON Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions are by three employees of the Travancore Devaswom Board and they pray for the issue of writs of certiorari quashing certain decisions of the Respondent; the State of Travancore-Cochin, declaring that the petitioners and other servants of the Devaswom Board are not servants of the State Government and also for writs of Mandamus calling upon the Respondent to restore the petitioners to their original status as Government servants. The orders sought to be quashed were passed on 18-8-1955 and 13-12-1955 O.P. No. 67 was filed before the later order was passed and therefore, the only order sought to be quashed in that petition is that dated 18-8-1955. The three petitions were heard together.

(2.) The material averments in the three petitions may be stated as follows: After the assumption of Devaswom by the Maharaja of Travancore in the year 987 M. E. (1811 A. D.) in exercise of his sovereign rights, the Devaswoms were administered by the Revenue Department of the State till the year 1097 M. E. (1922 A, D.) when the Maharaja promulgated the Devaswom Proclamation of 1097 constituting a separate Department of the Government for the administration of Devaswoms. This proclamation provided that the expenditure in connection with the Devaswoms would be met out of the general revenues of the State. At the time the petitioners entered service, the Devaswom Department was thus one of the several departments of the Government and the petitioners were Government servants. The Proclamation of 1097 was repealed by another of the year 1121 which also provided that the expenditure in connection with the Devaswoms would be met out of the general revenues. When the interim Constitution Act of Travancore was passed, it was felt necessary to place the Devaswoms under the control and supervision of the Maharaja and another Proclamation was promulgated on 10th Meenom 1123 (23rd March 1948) vesting the administration of Devaswoms in the Maharaja. It was also provided that a sum of Rs. 50 lakhs would be provided in the State Budget every year for the maintenance of the Devaswoms. According to the petitioners, this Proclamation did not affect their status and they continued as servants of the Government, notwithstanding the assumption of management of the Devaswoms by the Maharaja. When the States of Travancore and Cochin were integrated, a covenant was entered into by the Rulers of Travancore and Cochin with the concurrence and guarantee of the Government of India and Art.8 (c) of the covenant made provision for transferring and vesting the administration of Devaswoms, Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments in the Travancore Devaswom Board with effect from 1st August 1949. The petitioners case is that such vesting did not affect their status as Government servants. Art.19 of the covenant provided for the continuance in service of the permanent members of the public service of the covenanting States on conditions which would not be less advantageous to them than those on which they were serving immediately before 1-7-1949. The Hindu Religious Institutions Ordinance IX of 1124, was promulgated soon after and S.29(5) of the Ordinance provided that Art.19 of the covenant would apply to permanent members of the service in the Devaswom Department. S.29(5) of the Hindu Religious Institutions Ordinance, I of 1950, also contained a similar provision. According to the petitioners, these administrative changes could not and were not intended to affect their status as Government servants. The Devaswom Board took up this question with the Government and the first of the impugned orders was passed on 18-8-1955 holding that the Devaswom employees were not servants of the Government. In the later order dated 13-12-1955, the Respondent held that the Devaswom. Department was a department of the State Government only till 10-8-1123, i.e. the date of the Proclamation of 1123. As a result of these orders, the petitioners and other employees of the Devaswom Department lose several advantages and concessions which Government servants in other Departments are enjoying, such as increased salary, educational concession for children, free medical aid, etc. These orders are also stated to be against Art.346 of the Travancore Service Regulations, Art.19 of the covenant and Art.311 of the Constitution. The petitioners, therefore, pray for the issue of writs quashing these orders and compelling the Respondent to treat them as Government servants.

(3.) The State opposes these petitions. The main grounds taken in the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the State are that the orders are ministerial or administrative in nature, that the same have been validly passed, that by the Proclamation of 1123 the duties, functions and authority of the State Government became vested in the Maharaja, that the State Government was divested of powers over Devaswoms and employees of the Devaswom Department by this Proclamation, that the administration and management by the Maharaja later became vested in the Travancore Devaswom Board by Ordinance IX of 1124, and that the petitioners and others ceased to be Government servants after 10-8-1123. It is also contended that the petitions are not maintainable, as the Devaswom Board on whose representation the impugned orders were passed has not been made a party. The petitioners right to enforce the rights or obligations under the covenant is also denied. The Respondent also denied the allegation that Art.311 of the Constitution was violated. The petitions are also stated to be belated.