TMI Blog1978 (2) TMI 215X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... retired compulsorily under the aforesaid provision. In one of the meetings of the Administrative under the aforesaid provision. In one of the meetings of the Administrative Committee of the High Court which was held on January 9, 1974, it was resolved by the Committee that respondent 1 should be retired compulsorily from service. The Registrar of the High Court communicated the decision of the Administrative Committee to the State Government, appellant herein, and thereafter, he circulated to all the Judges of the High Court, for their intimation, the decision taken by the Administrative Committee. The Governor of U.P. accepted the recommendation of the Administrative Committee and retired respondent 1 compulsorily by an order dated February 27, 1975. 2. Respondent 1 filed a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution against the State of Uttar Pradesh and the Allahabad High Court challenging the validity of the aforesaid order on the following grounds (1) The order is illegal since no salary was paid to respondent 1 at the time when the order was passed; (2) The order is really in the nature of punishment since it casts a stigma and is therefore contrary to Arti ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... osition that the power to retire a District Judge compulsorily is an incident of the power of appointment contained in Article 233(1) of the Constitution which provides that appointments of persons to be and the posting and promotion of District Judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State. After the Full Bench reserved its judgment, this Court held in High Court of Punjab and Haryana v. State of Haryana ((1975) 3 SCR 365 (1975) 1 SCC 843 1975 SCC (L S) 229 AIR 1975 SC 613) that the initial appointment and initial promotion of District Judges rested with the Governor, but once they were appointed or promoted to be District Judges the entire control over them was vested in the High Court. The power of the Governor in the matter of appointment included the power of dismissal, removal and reduction in rank but since compulsory retirement is neither dismissal, removal not reduction in rank the power in that behalf vests in the High Court and not in the Governor. In view of the judgment of this Court referred to above and certain other judgments, it is clear that compulsory retirement ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rticle 225 of the Constitution and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, has framed Rules known as the Rules of Court, 1952. The relevant rules contained in Chapter III of the Rules are these CHAPTER III Executive and Administrative Business of the Court 1. Subject to these Rules, a Committee of Judges composed of the Chief Justice, the Judge in the Administrative Department and five other Judges to be appointed by the Chief Justice, referred to in these Rules as the Administrative Committee, shall act for the Court. The Chief Justice shall have the charge of, and may act for the court in the Administrative Department and the executive and administrative business pertaining to the Court, except that the Judge in the Administrative Department shall have charge of, and may act for the Court in the Administrative Department and the executive and administrative business pertaining to the Courts subordinate to the Court. As far as possible, the Judge in the Administrative Department shall discharge his duties and functions in consultation with the Inspection Judges concerned, who shall be appointed by the Chief Justice from time to time. The membership of the Committ ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ted, namely - (a) proposals as to legislation or changes in the law; (b) proposals as to changes in or the issue of new Rules of Court; (c) proposals as to changes in or the issue of new Rules for the guidance of subordinate courts; (d) withholding of promotion, supersession or reduction of judicial officers, not occasioned by the selection of officers for appointment to the U.P. Higher Judicial Service; (e) important questions of policy or those affecting the powers and status of the Court; (f) matters connected with the Supreme Court; (g) annual administration report due for submission to Government before it is adopted by the Administrative Committee; (h) deleted; (i) any other matter which the Chief Justice or the Administrative Committee may consider fit to be laid before them for consideration. 12. So far as convenient, papers for circulation shall be sent by the Registrar to the Judges at Allahabad and at Lucknow in their order of seniority, commencing with the junior Judge. The Registrar shall so far as practicable, obtain from each Judge such papers within three days from the date when the same are sent to him. The Registrar shall end ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... es the pre-Constitution powers of High Courts in certain matters and since under the Letters Patent of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935 and the U.P. High Court Amalgamation Order, 1948, the High Court of Allahabad did not possess the power to frame rules authorising either a Judge or an Administrative Committee of Judges to act on behalf of the whole court, the Rules of Court framed by the High Court in 1952 are beyond its competence in so far as they authorise the Administrative Judge or the Administrative Committee to act behalf of the Court. 10. Article 225, it is true, preserves inter alia the pre-Constitution powers of existing High Courts to frame rules and it may be assumed for purposes of argument, an assumption which is largely borne out by provisions of the laws mentioned in the preceding paragraph, that the High Court of Allahabad did not, prior to the enactment of the Constitution, possess the power to frame rules authorising a Judge or a Committee of Judges of the High Court to act on behalf of the Court. But Article 225 is not the sole repository of the High Courts' power to frame rules. The relevant part ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that article may be exercised. That explains why the Allahabad High Court framed Rules of 1952 not only in the exercise of power possessed by it under Article 225, but in the exercise of all other powers enabling it in that behalf. One of such powers is to be found in Article 235 itself and therefore the abstract power of the High Court to frame the impugned rules cannot be doubted and must be conceded. 11. We call such a power 'abstract' in order to prepare the ground for consideration of the main point involved in the appeal. The High Court may possess the power to frame rules under Article 235 and yet the rules framed by it may be bad because they are derogatory to the terms of that Article. In other words, if by Article 235 the control over subordinate courts is vested in the High Court as a whole, is it permissible to the High Court to provide by framing a rule that a matter falling within the area of control may be decided, not by the whole court, but by a Judge or a Committee of Judges acting behalf of the court ? That is the first question which the Full Bench of the High Court formulated for its consideration. 12. Compulsory retirement of Judges of the Distr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... formal treatment which the other Judges gave to the Registrar's circular informing them of the decision taken by the Administrative Committee is to emphasize that the first question framed by the Full Bench has to be answered on the basis that the other Judges of the High Court were not consulted upon and had no occasion or opportunity to consider the justness, propriety or necessity of the decision taken by the Administrative Committee that the respondent be retired compulsorily. 14. Having given our close and anxious consideration to that question, we regret that we are unable to share the view of the majority of the High Court Full Bench that by leaving the decision of the question of the respondent's compulsory retirement to the Administrative Committee, the Court had abdicated its constitutional function. According to the view of the majority, the act of the Court in allowing the Administrative Committee to decide that question under Rule 1 of Chapter III of the 1952 Rules is an act of self-abnegation and therefore void. This approach betrays, with respect, a misunderstanding of the object of Article 235. The ideal which inspired the provision that the control ov ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... diction over subordinate courts, the High Court does not efface itself by surrendering its power to an extraneous authority. The procedure adopted by the High Court under its Rules is not subversive of the independence of the subordinate judiciary, which is what Article 235 recognises and seeks to achieve. The true question then for decision is not the one by which the majority of the Full Bench felt oppressed but simply, whether the procedure prescribed by the High Court Rules is in any other manner inconsistent with the terms of Article 235 of the Constitution. 15. Yet another misconception may now be cleared. It is urged on behalf of the respondent by his learned counsel Shri Misra that under Article 216, 'High Court' means the entire body of Judges appointed to the Court and therefore, the control over the subordinate judiciary which is vested by Article 235 in the High Court must be exercised by the whole body of Judges. The trust of the argument is that the High Court cannot delegate its functions or power to a Judge or a smaller body of Judges of the Court. This argument requires consideration of the question whether any delegation as such is involved in the proce ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e High Court's constitutional functions. Judicial functions ought to occupy and do in fact consume the best part of a Judge's time. For balancing these two-fold functions it is inevitable that the administrative duties should be left to be discharged by some on behalf of all the Judges. Judicial functions brook no such sharing of responsibilities by any instrumentality. 17. The High Court has not by its Rule authorised any extraneous authority, as in Shamsher Singh, to do what the constitution enables and empowers it to do. The Administrative Judge or the Administrative Committee is a mere instrumentality through which the entire Court acts for the more convenient transaction of its business, the assumed basis of the arrangement being that such instrumentalities will only act in furtherance of the broad policies evolved from time to time by the High Court as a whole. Each Judge of the high Court is an integral limb of the Court. He is its alterego. It is therefore inappropriate to say that a Judge or a Committee of Judges of the High Court authorised by the Court to act its behalf is a delegate of the Court. 18. Since a Judge of the High Court or an Administrative Com ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s in the order of compulsory retirement casting any stigma on the respondent and therefore the grievance that the order is in the nature of punishment is unjustified. The statement made on behalf of the Government on matters of public policy in which it was claimed that corrupt and undesirable officials were being weeded out cannot justify the conclusion that the respondent was retired compulsorily by reason of any strain attaching to his character. Nor are we impressed by the contention that the Administrative Committee had no material before it on the basis of which it could conclude that the respondent should be retired compulsorily. We do not think that this Court would be justified in interfering in such matters with the exercise of a discretionary power which, by the Constitution, is vested in the High Courts. It appears that the output of the respondent was sub-standard and even if the entries in his character roll prior to the time when he was allowed to cross the efficiency bar are ignored, there was enough material before the Administrative Committee to come to the conclusion to which it did. 20. Shri Misra attempted to urge that Article 465-A of the Civil Service Regu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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