UNION OF INDIA Vs. SWAPNANEEL DEKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) At the root of controversy in both these writ petitions, made under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, lies the amendments to Sub-rule (1) of Rule 4 of The Indian Police Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Recruitment Rules, 1954'), by virtue of the Indian Police Service (Recruitment) Amendment Rules, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Amendment Rules, 2011'), which have been brought into force with effect from 29.08.2011.

(2.) In order to correctly appreciate the various contentions, which were raised in OA 112/2012, and the challenge posed to the decision of the learned Tribunal by the present two writ petitions, certain facts, which are material but not in dispute, need to be, first, taken into account.

(3.) The history of the controversy, leading to the present two writ petitions, can be traced to the 1951 Act. At the time of enactment of the 1951 Act, there were two services, namely, Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. As there was absence of provisions in Article 312 similar to the ones as included in Article 309, the Government of India was compelled to deal with many of the matters by means of non-statutory executive orders. It was, therefore, felt necessary that Parliament should provide the requisite statutory authority to enable the Government of India to carry on the day-to-day management of the All India Services and also to take and promulgate decisions on matters relating to the recruitment and conditions of service from time to time. With this object in mind, the 1951 Act came into force, with effect from 29.10.1951, in order to (as the Preamble declares) regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to All India Services common to the Union and the States.