O.A. No. 4544/2015 and M.A. No. 4193/2015. Case: Agrawal Sushil Ravindra and Ors. Vs Union of India and Ors.. High Court of Madras (India)
| Case Number | O.A. No. 4544/2015 and M.A. No. 4193/2015 |
| Counsel | For Appellant: Sameer Parekh, Advocate and For Respondents: Gyanender Singh and R.V. Sinha, Advocates |
| Judges | V. Ajay Kumar, Member (J) and Shekhar Agarwal, Member (A) |
| Issue | Constitution Of India - Articles 14, 19(1)(g), 21 |
| Judgement Date | December 18, 2015 |
| Court | High Court of Madras (India) |
Order:
V. Ajay Kumar, Member (J), (Principal Bench, New Delhi)
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M.A. No. 4193/2015, filed for grant of permission to file a joint application, is allowed.
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The applicants, 9 in number, filed the OA seeking to declare Rule 8(1) of the Indian Forest Service (Probation) Rules, 1968 as violative of Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution of India and further consequential reliefs. They have also prayed for a direction to permit them to appear in the Civil Services Main Examination - 2015, starting from 18.12.2015, as an interim relief.
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Heard Shri Sameer Parekh, learned counsel for the applicants and Shri Gyanender Singh and Shri R.V. Sinha, the learned counsel for Respondent Nos. 1 to 3 and Respondent No. 4, who appeared on receipt of notice, on the prayer for interim relief.
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All the applicants have been selected in the Indian Forest Service - 2014 examination and now on probation and undergoing training at the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, Dehradun.
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It is stated that they have sought permission from the 2nd Respondent-Course Director of the said Academy to appear in Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination - 2015 conducted by the 4th Respondent-UPSC on 23.08.2015. However, the 2nd Respondent rejected the same by stating that proviso to Rule 8(1) of the IFS (Probation) Rules, 1968 does not permit for the same. Even then, they appeared for the Preliminary examination and as a consequence one week salary was deducted from their salaries.
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It is further submitted that the Civil Services (Main) Examinations are starting from 18.12.2015 and that they are entitled for granting of an interim relief to permit them to attend the same, for the following reasons:
a) Proviso to Rule 8(1) of the Indian Forest Service (Probation) Rules, 1968 is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India as similarly situated persons, i.e., Indian Police Service, probationers are permitted to appear for Civil Services Examination.
b) In case of one Siddharth Kumar Ambedkar, who was also a probationary officer in Indian Forest Service, when the UPSC refused to declare his results in view of Rule 8(1) of the IFS (Probation) Rules, 1968, and when his OA filed in the Central Administrative Tribunal was also refused, the Government notwithstanding Rule 8(1) granted him permission and accordingly, having selected he was allowed to join in India Police Service. Hence, the applicants also are entitled to...
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