O.A. No. 154/2008. Case: Pramod P. P. S/o P. Prabhakaran, Assistant Deputy Conservator of Forests, Thiruvananthapuram Vs 1. Union of India represented by Secretary to Ministry of Environment & Forests, 2. State of Kerala represented by the Chief Secretary to Government of India, Trivandrum, 3. Vijayanathan K., Indian Forest Service (Probationer), Indian Forest Service, Dehradun, Uttarkhand. Central Administrative Tribunal
| Case Number | O.A. No. 154/2008 |
| Counsel | M. R. Rajendran Nair, M. R. Hariraj, Sunil Jacob Jose, R. Premsankar |
| Judges | Dr. K. B. S. Rajan (Judicial Member) & K. Noorjehan (Administrative Member) |
| Issue | Right to Information Act, 2005; Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 16(4) |
| Judgement Date | February 05, 2010 |
| Court | Central Administrative Tribunal |
Judgment:
K. Noorjehan (Administrative Member), (Ernakulam Bench)
1. The applicant, who qualified the Indian Forest Service Examination 2005, is aggrieved by the refusal of the respondents to allocate him Kerala Cadre.
2 According to the applicant, he appeared in the Indian Forest Service examination for the year 2005 and secured the 38th rank. Based on his ranking, he was appointed to the IFS and allotted to the Manipur-Tripura Cadre(A-1). He belongs to Scheduled Caste Community.
As per the policy of the first respondent, in the direct recruitment to IAS/IPS/IFS, the ratio of 2:1 is prescribed between outsiders and insiders for allocation of selected candidates to State cadres from 1983 onwards (A-2). The broad principles governing the allocation on the basis of the said roster was set out in the letter dated 31.5.1985 (A3). Separate outsider-insider roster must be maintained in regard to all the reserved categories. The ratio is required to be maintained in view of the principles of cadre allocation under the roster system (A-4). In the Kerala Cadre of Indian Forest Service, the above ratio is not maintained. Out of the 69 direct recruits in position, only 20 insiders are there. After 1975, not a single SC candidate from the insider quota is appointed to the Kerala Cadre. As things stand now, out of the 13 SC candidates in the cadre not a single insider is there. Same is the case with ST candidates too. On the other hand, out of the 11 OBC candidates there are 4 insiders which is far in excess of the permitted quota (A-9 & A-10). The list showing the actual allocation made against the roster points in A-10 is produced (A-11). According to him, the vacancy for the year 2005 examination must be an insider vacancy. As such, he ought to have been allotted to that vacancy. Apprehending denial of allotment to Kerala cadre, the father of the applicant submitted a representation (A-12). The applicant filed a representation pointing out the shortfall in the SC insider quota and that the ratio is not maintained (A-13). As there was no response, he filed another representation. He has also made a request under the right to Information Act for certain details regarding the cadre allocation. The applicant is now challenging the order at Annexure A-17 as illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory inconsistent with the statutory rules, and Rule 5 of the Cadre Rules, (ii) the ratio of 2:1 between outsiders and insiders has not been maintained over a period of time (iii)there is in fact no insider candidate among the SC/ST in the direct recruits of Kerala cadre, categorisation of insider vacancies as OBC and SC/ST is not legal (iv) the allocation is not made with proper consultation with the State Government (v) the Tribunal and the Higher Judicial Fora have found fault with the operation and maintenance of the roster in regard to the Kerala cadres.
3 The applicant in support of his case has relied on the orders of this Tribunal in O.A. 725/98 filed by a similar IFS officer belonging to Kerala State successfully challenging his allotment to Assam Meghalaya cadre of the IFS which was upheld by the High Court of Kerala and the order of the Tribunal O.A. 76/2001 a more or less identical case of an IAS officer belonging to Kerala State challenging his allotment to Orissa cadre.
4 Respondent No. 1 filed reply statement. They submitted that a candidate is considered for allocation to his State as per his rank in the merit list and availability of insider vacancy in that State Allocation of outsider is according to the Roster System after placing insiders at their places. The allocation of vacancies which have been worked out with respect to 2005, shows that there is only one vacancy in the Kerala cadre and as per DOPT guidelines regarding reservation of vacancies, the sole vacancy was earmarked for OBC outsider as there was no insider vacancy for the year. Thus, the applicant is not eligible for the allotment to the Kerala cadre of IFS. They also submitted that there is no provision for carrying forward of insider SC vacancy and the reserved vacancy cannot be kept as backlog for want of insider candidate. The respondents relying on the...
To continue reading
Request your trial