RAJAN BABU Vs. U P PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE two petitions are .being disposed of by a common judgment as they raise an identical issue. The question that arises for consideration is whether an illegitimate son of a Freedom Fighter is entitled to claim the benefit of the reservation carved out for the dependants of Freedom Fighters for the purposes of recruitment to the U. P. Government Upper Subordinate Services. Sons of Freedom Fighters are among the list of relations who are entitled to such benefits as dependants of Freedom Fighters. The claim of the petitioner for being considered in the category of dependants of Freedom Fighters has been negatived by the respondents on the ground that he is not the legitimate son of Sita Ram Jaiswal, the Freedom Fighter, and consequently not entitled to claim the benefit of reservation meant for dependants of Freedom Fighters.

(2.) THE petitioner appeared at the combined Upper Subordinate Services Examination of 1983 for various posts including the post of Sales Tax Officer-2 conducted by the U. P. Public Service Commission. After the written test the petitioner was called for interview and was eventually placed at serial no. 143 in the final selection list prepared by the Commission. It appears that after the declaration of the result of the written examination the Commission received a complaint against the petitioner alleging that he was not legitimate son of Sita Ram Jaiswal, the Freedom Fighter. THE Commission, however, decided to interview the petitioner provisionally and, in the meantime, entrusted the enquiry to the District Magistrate, Allahabad, for investigating the complaint referred to above. THE petitioner and his father Sita Ram Jaiswal submitted their own affidavits and those of two other persons before the Commission. THEreafter the entire material was transmitted to the District Magistrate for consideration. THE petitioner was also directed by the Commission through its office memo dated 25-1-87 to submit documents in support of his claim before the District Magistrate. THEreafter the District Magistrate submitted a report dated 2-3-88 to the Commission. THE report stated that the enquiry conducted against the petitioner revealed that Sita Ram Jaiswal was married to Smt. Prabha Devi and from this marriage there were two sons and one daughter. Smt. Prabha Devi was living separately with these children at Khuldabad and not with Sita Ram Jaiswal. After his marriage with Smt. Prabha Devi, Sita Ram Jaiswal started living with another lady Smt. Janki Devi from whom the petitioner was born. THE District Magistrate concluded that not being a legitimate son of Sita Ram Jaiswal, the petitioner could not be regarded as a dependant of a Freedom Fighter entitled to the reservation carved out in favour of such dependants. THE Commission accepting the report of the District Magistrate issued a letter dated 18-4-88 to the petitioner stating that on a consideration of the entire matter it has decided that the petitioner could not be extended the benefit of the reservation carved out in favour of the Freedom Fighters as he was not a legitimate son of Sita Ram Jaiswal.

(3.) IN Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the term has been defined as a male child or person in relation to either or both of his parents. Parents here, obviously connote those who are legally married to one another. It is, however perhaps only in the broadest sense of the term that an illegitimate son may also be referred to as the son of a person. But there again it will depend on the context in which the term is used.