Delhi High Court
Rohit Bhalla vs Ministry Of Railways And Ors. on 2 December, 2019
$~35
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 2nd December, 2019
+ W.P.(C) 12693/2019
ROHIT BHALLA ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Ashes Lal, Adv.
Versus
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS AND ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Jagjit Singh, Sr. Standing
Counsel with Mr. Preet Singh & Mr. Vipin
Chaudhary, Advs. for Railways
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C.HARI SHANKAR
JUDGMENT
: D.N. PATEL, Chief Justice (Oral)
C.M.No. 51872/2019 (exemption)
Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
W.P.(C) 12693/2019 & C.M.No.51873/2019 (stay)
1. This so-called Public Interest Litigation has been preferred with the
following prayers:
"a. Issue writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ,
direction for quashing the vacancy Notice No.20/2019 dated
22.03.2019 and Notice No.22/2019 dated 28.03.2019 and the
entire selection process arising out of the said vacancy notices
in the interest of justice.
b. Call for the record of the case for proper adjudication of
the case.
c. pass any other order/orders which this Hon'ble Court may
deem fit and proper."
2. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the
vacancy notice dated 22nd March, 2019 [Annexure P-1 (colly) to the memo
of this writ petition] has been issued by respondent No.1, inviting
applications for the post of Technical Member in the Railway Claims
Tribunal, prescribing the requisite qualifications along with age limit, pay
scale etc. It is further submitted that the candidates applying for the post of
Technical Member in the Railway Claims Tribunal are required to hold a
post for atleast 3 years under a Railway Administration, carrying pay-scale
not less than that of a Joint Secretary to the Government of India and having
adequate knowledge of rules and procedures as well as experience in claims
and commercial matters relating to Railways.
3. Similarly, another vacancy notice dated 28th March, 2019 inviting
applications for the post of Vice-Chairman (Technical) required the
applicant to hold a post under a Railway Administration carrying a pay-scale
not less than that of a Joint Secretary to Government of India and having
adequate knowledge of rules and procedures as well as experience in claims
and commercial matters relating to Railways for atleast 5 years or has held
the post of Technical Member in Railway Claims Tribunal for a period of
not less than 3 years.
4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner further submitted that the
respondents have invited applications for the aforesaid vacancies from the
serving/current as well as retired employees of Indian Railway Traffic
Service (IRTS) and Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS). It is further
submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that these candidates have no
such experience as required for the posts in question. Similarly, the retired
persons also cannot be considered for appointment on the aforesaid posts
because they cease to be IRTS and IRAS Officers once they retire.
5. Having heard both the sides and looking to the facts and
circumstances of the case, we see no reason to entertain this writ petition for
the following reasons:
(i) The respondents have given two vacancy notices; one is dated
22nd March, 2019 for the posts of Technical Member - 12 posts
in Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT). The said notice is at
Annexure P-1 (Collectively) (page 17 to the memo of this writ
petition). For the ready reference, the specific requirements
for the post in question as per the vacancy notice dated 22nd
March, 2019 read as under:
"SPECIFIC
REQUIREMENTS A PERSON SHALL NOT BE
QUALIFIED FOR APPOINTMENT
AS A TECHNICAL MEMBERS
UNLESS HE HAS, FOR ATLEAST 3
YEARS HELD A POST UNDER A
RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION
CARRYING A SCALE OF PAY
WHICH IS NOT LESS THAN THAT
OF A JOINT SECRETARY TO
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND
HAS ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF
RULES AND PROCEDURE OF,
AND EXPERIENCE IN CLAIMS
AND COMMERCIAL MATTERS
RELATING TO RAILWAYS."
(ii) Similarly, second vacancy notice dated 28th March, 2019 has
been issued by the respondents for the post of Vice Chairman
(Technical) - 01 post in Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) which
is annexed as Annexure P-1 (Collectively) (Page 20 to the
memo of this writ petition). As per the said vacancy notice,
specific requirements for the post in question read as under:
"SPECIFIC
REQUIREMENTS A PERSON SHALL NOT BE
QUALIFIED FOR APPOINTMENT
AS A VICE CHAIRMAN
(TECHNICAL) UNLESS HE HAS,
ATLEAST FOR 5 YEARS HELD A
POST UNDER A RAILWAY
ADMINISTRATION CARRYING A
SCALE OF PAY WHICH IS NOT
LESS THAN THAT OF A JOINT
SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA AND HAS ADEQUATE
KNOWLEDGE OF RULES AND
PROCEDURE OF, AND
EXPERIENCE IN CLAIMS AND
COMMERCIAL MATTERS
RELATING TO RAILWAYS
OR
HAS FOR A PERIOD OF NOT LESS
THAN 3 YEARS HELD OFFICE AS A
TECHNICAL MEMBER IN RCT."
(iii) It appears that for the posts mentioned in the aforesaid vacancy
notices, the applications have been invited from the employees
of IRTS and IRAS as well as from the retired employees of
IRTS and IRAS. A Multi-Members Committee had been
constituted in accordance with law and the selection process
has already commenced.
(iv) Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the list of
the candidates appearing for interview for the post of Technical
Member is at page 25 - Annexure P-4 (collectively) wherein it
is stated that most of these candidates are not eligible because
they do not fulfil the requisite eligibility criteria, especially the
candidates from IRAS. We are not accepting this contention of
the petitioner mainly for the reason that the employees of
IRAS, who have applied for the posts in question, would, in
ordinary course, to be dealing with the claims and commercial
matters relating to Railway. The petitioner has not placed on
record any material on the basis of which it could be alleged,
much less held, that IRAS members do not possess the requisite
experience. Moreover, as to whether a particular
applicant/candidate is fulfilling the required eligibility criteria
or not can only be verified once the selection process is over.
(v) Thus, before the Multi-Members Committee of the respondents
finalizes the selection, it will be premature to exercise our
powers of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution
of India to come to a conclusion whether a particular candidate
is qualified or not. Petitioner has not placed on record
qualifications of candidates who have appeared in the
interview. The names of such candidates have been mentioned
at page 25-27 of the memo of this writ petition. Hence, we
further see no reason to entertain this writ petition at this stage.
6. In view of the aforesaid facts and reasons, this writ petition is hereby
dismissed.
CM APPL.51873/2019 (Stay)
7. In view of the final order passed in W.P.(C) 12693/2019, this
application stands disposed of.
CHIEF JUSTICE
C.HARI SHANKAR, J
DECEMBER 02, 2019
ns
