GAYA PRASAD Vs. UNION OF INDIA UOI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THERE eight writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution are being disposed of by a common judgment as they involve similar questions of fact and law. The eight individual petitioners, with effect from different dates between the year 1959 and 1960, were employed by the administration of the Northern Railway as class IV employees for serving as loco cleaners. According to the petitioners, they got their appointments as loco cleaners and were posted at various stations after they had undergone all the formalities of selection and after having passed the medical test. The petitioners no doubt served the railway administration in the capacity of loco cleaners. In respect of each of them proper service records were maintained by the railway administration and their salary were fixed in accordance with the prevailing scales of pay. In the third year of their appointment each one of them underwent, what is described as periodical medical reexamination, and according to the standard prescribed, each one of them was declared fit. It is then alleged by the petitioners that they were, however, asked to undergo a medical examination again though the next three years had not expired, Willy-nilly the petitioners as directed appeared before the Divisional Medical Officer at Allahabad who during their medical examinations applied the tests as prescribed for medical examination on initial entry into service and declared each one of them as unfit. Thereupon, each of the petitioners was served with a notice in the following words: [notice, dated-12-1964/2 January 1964 issued from the office of the Divisional Superintendent, Nothern Railway, Allahabad]. The Divisional Medical Officer, Northern Railway, Allahabad, had declared you medically unfit, you cannot therefore be permitted to perform duty as cleaner. It is proposed to grant you leave due as notice below, subject to DAO/ald's verification and on its expiry, you will be discharged from service with effect from. . . . You should hand over charges of all the railway property which is in your possession to loco foreman. For at once and vacate the railway quarters if any in your possession immediately failing which action will be taken to evict you under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupation) Act, 1968, and rent under the extant rules will be recovered from you. You are hereby given seven days' time from the date of receipt hereof to show cause as to why the action proposed should not be taken. Any representation that you will make in this connexion will be taken into consideration before passing final order.

(2.) DIFFERENT dates were mentioned in the notices sent with effect from which the service of the respective petitioners was to stand discharged. Nothing material turns on these dates.

(3.) THE case of the petitioners is that they having been duly appointed after having been declared medically fit initially and they further having passed the periodical medical re-examination as required by the rules, the authorities soled illegally and arbitrarily in asking them to undergo a fresh medical examination and then discharging them from service on their alleged failure in that examination by applying standards which, under the rules, could not be applied to them. It has been contended by them in their petition that having been discharged from service on charge of inefficiency due to physical unfitness the railway authorities have actually punished them and the provisions of Article 311 (2) of the Constitution have been violated, no reasonable opportunity to show cause at any stage having been afforded to the petitioners.