The Delhi High Court has set aside the allocations of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of 2018 batch by the Centre and ordered a fresh cadre allocation.
A Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palliallowed the petitions by four petitioners who participated in the Civil ServiceExam (CSE), 2017.
They had challenged IAS Officers vide communication datedDecember 3, 2018, and the IPS Officers vide Office Memorandum (OM) datedDecember 19, 2018.
The petitioners said that the interpretation and implementationof the Cadre Allocation Policy-2017 is unreasonable as the more meritoriouscandidates have been denied the allocation of cadre.
“We agree with the petitioners that the interpretationand implementation of the Cadre Allocation Policy – 2017 resorted to by therespondents (Centre) is unreasonable and arbitrary since the more meritoriouscandidates have been denied the cadres to which they were otherwise entitled toaccording to their preference, and the same have been allocated to the lessmeritorious candidates,” the bench said.
“There can be no gain saying that the common threadrunning in the said Cadre Allocation Policy – 2017 is to reward merit. The moremeritorious candidates are entitled to consideration for allocation of cadresbefore the less meritorious candidates are considered,” the court said.
That principle has been clearly breached by the Centre dueto the manner in which they have interpreted and implemented the officememorandum.
The four candidates were successful. But the the case of thepetitioners is that the candidates who appeared in the CSE, 2017 had filled upthe online forms giving their preferences for cadres under the preferred zones.
“These preferences were called for, before thedeclaration of the final results of the selection process, and when thepetitioners were not aware of their merit positions,” the petitioners toldthe court.
They added that in the matter of cadre allocation to the IASand IPS Officers, the rules provide that the allocation of cadre officers to variouscadres shall be made by the central government in consultation with the stategovernment or the state government concerned.
The petitioners submitted that the IAS and IPS officers areunder obligation to serve in any part of the country. The government is notbound to allocate any officer to any particular cadre of his choice.
They have also sought direction to the Centre to issue a newlist on the basis of merit and preferences indicated in the online form, bycorrectly interpreting the Office Memorandum of September 5, 2017.
“We, therefore, direct the respondents to undertakefresh cadre allocation of the successful candidates allocated to the IAS andIPS, according to their merit and by taking into consideration the preferencesgiven by the candidates,” the bench said.
The bench also observed that the petitioners have approachedthe court at the very earliest and at a stage when neither the IAS officers,nor the IPS officers of the 2018 batch have commenced their on-site trainingwhich are cadre specific.”We also accept the submission of thepetitioners that cadre allocation is a matter which would affect their careersfor all times to come, and re-allocation of cadres by the respondents shouldnot take much time considering that the same is done electronically, i.e.through the computer program or software,” the court said.