TMI Blog1969 (4) TMI 103X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arily have given weight to the opinion expressed by Naqishbund. What particular rule of natural justice should apply to a given case must depend to a great extent on the facts and circumstances of that case, the framework of the law under which the enquiry is held and the constitution of the Tribunal or body of persons appointed for that purpose. Whenever a complaint is made before a court that some principle of natural justice had been contravened the court has to decide whether the observance of that was necessary for a just decision on the facts of that case. As seen earlier Naqishbund was a party to the preparation of the select list in order of preference and that he is shown as No. 1 in the list. To that extent he was undoubtedly a judge in his own case, a circumstance which is abhorrent to our concept of justice. Now coming to the selection of the officers in the. junior scale service, the selections to both senior scale service as well as junior scale service were made from the same pool. Every officer who had put in a service of 8 years or more, even if he was holding the post of an Assistant Conservator of Forests was eligible for being selected for the senior scale ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... u and Kashmir to make rules for the regulation of recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to those All India Services. Sub-s. (2) of S. 2 prescribes that all rules made under that section "shall be laid for not less than fourteen days before Parliament as soon as possible after -they are made, and shall be subject to such modifications, whether by way of repeal or amendment, as Parliament may make on a motion made during the session in which they are so laid." In pursuance of the power given under S. 3, rules for the recruitment to the Indian Forest Service were made in 1966Indian Forest Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1966. The only rule relevant for our present purpose is rule 4(1) which reads : "As soon as may be, after the commencement of these rules, the Central Government 'May recruit to the service any person from amongst the members of the State Forest Service adjudged suitable in accordance with such Regulations as the Central Government may make in consultation with the State Governments and the Commission." The Commission referred to in the above rule is the Union Public Service Commission. The Proviso to that sub-rufe is not relevant for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cies in the State cadre concerned. In pursuance of the Regulation mentioned above, the Central Government constituted a special selection board for selecting officers to the Indian Forest Service in the senior scale as well as in the junior scale from those serving in the forest department of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The nominee of the Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission, one M. A. Venkataraman was the Chairman of the board. The other members of the board were the Inspector General of Forests of the Government of India, one of the Joint Secretaries in the Government of India, the Chief Secretary to the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir and Naqishbund, the Acting Chief Conservator of Forests of Jammu and Kashmir. The selection board met at Srinagar in May, 1967 and selected respondents 7 to 31 in Writ Petition No. 173 of 1967. The cases of respondents Nos. 32 to 37 were reserved for further consideration. The selections in question are said to have been made solely on the basis of the records -of officers. Their suitability was not tested by any examination, written or oral., Nor were they interviewed. For several years before that selection the adverse en ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a high powered body. That much was conceded by the learned Attorney-General who appeared for the Union Government as well as the State Government. It is true that the list prepared by the selection board was not the last word in the matter of the selection -in -question. That list along with the records of the officers in the concerned cadre selected as well as not selected had to be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs. We shall assume that as required by Regulation 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs had forwarded that list with its observations to the Commission and the Commission had examined the records of all the officers afresh before making its recommendation. But it is obvious that the recommendations made by the selection board should have weighed with the Commission. Undoubtedly the adjudging of the merits of the candidates by the selection board was an extremely important step in the process. It was contended before us that s. 3 of the All India Services Act, rule 4 of the rules framed thereunder and Regulation 5 of the Indian Forest Service (Initial Recruitment) Regulations 1966 are void as those provisions confer unguided, uncontrolled and uncanalised power on the conce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that power and the manner in which that power is expected to be exercised. Under our Constitution the rule of law pervades over the entire field of administration. Every organ of the State under our Constitution is regulated and controlled by the rule of law. In a welfare State like ours it is inevitable that the jurisdiction of the administrative bodies is increasing at a rapid rate. The concept of rule of law would lose its vitality if the instrumentalities of the State are not charged with the duty of discharging their functions in a fair and just manner. The requirement of acting judicially in essence is nothing but a requirement to act justly and fairly and not arbitrarily or capriciously. The procedures which are considered inherent in the exercise of a judicial power are merely those which facilitate if not ensure a just and fair decision. In recent years the concept of quasi-judicial power has been undergoing a radical change. What was considered as an administrative power some years back is now being considered as a quasi-judicial power. 'Me following observations of Lord Parker C.J. in Regina v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, Ex. Parte Lain([1967] 2 Q.B. 864, 881) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly, within the jurisdiction of this court. It is as Mr. Bridge said, 'a servant of the Crown charged by the Crown, by executive instruction, with the duty of distributing the bounty of the Crown. It is clearly, therefore, performing public duties." The Court of Appeal of New Zealand has held that the power to make a zoning order under Dairy Factory Supply Regulation 1936 has to be exercised judicially, see New Zealand and Dairy Board v. Okita Co-operative Dairy Co. Ltd. ([1953] New Zealand Law Reports p. 366). This Court in The Purtabpore Co. Ltd. v. Cane Commissioner of Bihar and Ors. ([1969] 2 S.C.R. 807) held that the power to alter the area reserved under the Sugar Cane (Control) Order 1966 is a quasi-judicial power. With the increase of the power of the administrative bodies it has become necessary to provide guidelines for the just exercise of their power. To prevent the abuse of that power and to see that it does not become a new despotism, courts are gradually evolving the principles to be observed while exercising such powers. In matters like these, public good is not advanced by a rigid adherence to precedents. New problems call for new solutions. It is neither possible ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the selection board other than Naqishbund, each one of them separately, have filed affidavits in this Court swearing that Naqishbund in no manner influenced their decision in making the selections. In a group deliberation each member of the group is bound to influence the others, more so, if the member concerned is a person with special knowledge. Ms bias is likely to operate in a subtle manner. It is no wonder that the other members of the selection board are unaware of the extent to which his opinion influenced their conclusions. We are unable to accept the contention that in adjudging the suitability of the candidates the members of the board did not have any mutual discussion. It is not as if the records spoke of themselves. We are unable to believe that the members of selection board functioned like computers. At this stage it may also be noted that at the time the selections were made, the members of the selection board other than Naqishbund were not likely to have known that Basu had appealed against his supersession and that his appeal was pending before the State Government. Therefore there was no occasion for them to distrust the opinion expressed by Naqishbund. Hence ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion granted by those provisions is in a position where it is his duty to exercise that assumed jurisdiction whether it be administrative, executive or quasi-judicial, fairly, by which I mean applying his mind dispassionately to a fair analysis of the particular problem and the information available to him in analysing it. If in any hypothetical case, and in any real case, this court was satisfied that an immigration officer was not so doing, then in my view mandamus would lie." In State of Orissa v. Dr. (Miss) Binapani Dei and Ors.([1967] 2 S.C.R. 625) Shah, J. speaking for the Court, dealing with an enquiry made as regards the correct age of a government servant, observed thus "We think that such an enquiry and decision were contrary to the basic concept of justice and cannot have any value. It is true that the order is administrative in character, but even an administrative order which involves civil consequences as already stated, must be made consistently with the rules of natural justice after informing the first respondent of the case of the State. The aim of the rules of natural justice is to secure justice or to put it negatively to prevent miscarriage of j ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... torney-General that after all the selection board was only a recommendatory body. Its recommendations had first to be considered by the Home Ministry and *.hereafter by the U.P.S.C. The final recommendations were made by the U.P.S.C. Hence grievances of the petitioners have no real basis. According to him while considering the validity of administrative actions taken, all that we have to see is whether the ultimate decision is just or not. We are unable to agree with the learned Attorney-General that the recommendations made by the selection board were of little consequence. Looking at the composition of the board and the nature of the duties entrusted to it we have no doubt that its recommendations should have carried considerable weight with the U.P.S.C. If the decision of the selection board is held to have been vitiated, it is -clear to our mind that the final recommendation made by the Commission must also be held to have been vitiated. The recommendations made by the Union Public Service Commission cannot be disassociated from the selections made by the selection board which is the foundation for the recommendations of the Union Public Service Commission. In this connection r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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