TILAK RAJ BHALLA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER , Tilak Raj Bhalla, District Attorney, Grade I, Amritsar, belongs to the service known as Punjab District Attorneys Service, constituted under the Punjab District Attorneys Service Rules, 1960, (hereinafter referred to as the 'Rules'). The Director of Prosecution, Respondent No. 2, -vide his letter dated 7th October, 1986, called for the option from the Petitioner and other District Attorneys for being appointed as a Law Officer in the Office of the Inspector General of Police, C.I.D. Punjab. Even though, the Petitioner did not indicate his willingness to join the said post, the state Government, vide its order dated 14th January, 1987, purported to promote and to appoint him as Law officer in the office of the Inspector General of Police, C.I.D. with immediate effect. The order further directed the Petitioner to relinquish his charge as District Attorney and to report for duty at his new place of posting immediately. Aggrieved, the Petitioner has approached this Court for relief under Article 226 of the Constitution.

(2.) THE case of the Petitioner is that as he belongs to District Attorney's Service, the Respondents cannot transfer or appoint him against his wishes to the post of Law Officer in the office of Inspector General of Police, C.I.D. a post outside the cadre of the Service to which he belongs. The State of Punjab has put in appearance and has contested the relief claimed in the writ petition. According to it, the Petitioner is not right in contending that the post of Law Officer in the office of Inspector General of Police, C.I.D. is a post outside the cadre of District Attorneys' Service, and even if it be that so, the State Government can, under Rule 14 of the Rules read with the conditions of service announced at the time of inviting applications for appointment to the Service, require the Petitioner to perform the duties of the Law Officer in the office of Inspector General of Police, C.I.D. It will, before dealing with the submissions made by the learned Counsel for the parties, be appropriate to notice the salient features of the Rules, under which the District Attorneys Service has been constituted. Rule 3 lays down that the said service is to comprise of the post shown in Appendix A to the Rules. According to this Appendix, the District Attorneys Service is to comprise of three categories of posts, namely:

(3.) THE first question that arises for consideration is whether Rule 14 of the Rules read along with Paragraph 9(b) of the Advertisement (Annexure P -2) empowers the State Government to transfer and appoint a member of the District Attorneys Service to a post not in the cadre of such service.