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TMI Blog2009 (3) TMI 1064X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arge scale illegalities committed in the making of ad hoc appointments was raised in the Bihar Legislative Assembly and members expressed concern over such appointments. In the backdrop of this development, Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar vide his letter dated 11.6.1986 made it clear to all the Secretaries to the Government, Heads of Departments, Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates that they will be personally responsible for the compliance of the rules and instructions in the making of ad hoc appointments. It, however, appears that the ban imposed by the State Government was relaxed qua Animal Husbandry Department and vide letter dated 4.7.1987, Under Secretary to the Government informed the Director, Animal Husbandry that for implementation of the schemes being operated by the department, appointments may be made on Class IV posts by committees comprising of Regional Director, Animal Husbandry as Chairman, Regional Joint Director, Animal Husbandry/Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry as Secretary and one officer belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes. 3. By taking advantage of letter dated 4.7.1987, Dr. Darogi Razak, the then Regional Director, Animal ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n inquiry into the appointments made by the then Regional Director, Animal Husbandry, Gaya. In that inquiry, it was found that about 5 dozen appointments were made without sanctioned posts and without following the procedure prescribed vide circular dated 4.7.1987. Thereafter, notices dated 3.5.2001 were issued to the respondents requiring them to show cause against the proposed termination of their services. In their replies, the respondents claimed that the Regional Director had appointed them after due selection and that the enquiry got conducted by the Director, Animal Husbandry cannot be made basis for terminating their services after a gap of almost 10 years. After considering their replies, the competent authority passed orders dated 23.5.2001 terminating the services of the respondents, who challenged the same by filing a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, which was registered as CWJC No. 7816 of 2001. The respondents pleaded that the action taken against them was vitiated due to violation of the rules of natural justice and arbitrary exercise of power because the concerned authority did not give them the effective opportunity of hearing and the instru ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . and LPA No. 47/2006 State of Bihar and Ors. v. Arjun Choudhary. Shri Rai then referred to the averments contained in paragraph 4 of the counter-affidavit to the Special Leave Petition to show that services of the respondents were regularized in 1992 and argued that the concerned authority illegally terminated their services by assuming that they were ad hoc appointees. 8. We have given serious thought to the entire matter and also gone through the statement furnished by learned Counsel for the appellant during the course of arguments. Equality of opportunity to all irrespective of their caste, colour, creed, race, religion and place of birth which constitutes one of the core values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also forms part of preamble to the Constitution of India, which reads as under: WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens: JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all; FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the in ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... chapter relating to fundamental rights. The principle of guaranteeing to every person equality before the law and the equal protection of the laws, was first included in the drafts submitted to the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights by Shri K.M. Munshi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. After discussing the matter and considering the suggestions made by Shri B.N. Rau, Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar, Shri K.M. Munshi and others, the final draft of Article 14 was adopted, which now reads as under: The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. The principle of non-discrimination on grounds of religion, race, colour, caste or language in the matter of public employment was contained in the drafts submitted by Shri K.M. Munshi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Shri K.T. Shah and Shri Harnam Singh also incorporated this basic principle in Clauses 2 and 8 of their respective drafts. When the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights discussed the subject, Shri K.T. Shah pressed his view that the Constitution should guarantee non- discrimination, not only in "public employment" but also in "employment in any enterprise aided or assisted ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... iling of fifty per cent reservation on total number of that year. (5) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination. 12. In E.P. Royappa v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors. (1974)ILLJ172SC , the Constitution Bench negatived the appellant's challenge to his transfer from the post of Chief Secretary of the State to that of Officer on Special Duty. P.N. Bhagwati, J. (as His Lordship then was) speaking for himself, Y.V. Chandrachud and V.R. Krishna Iyer, JJ. considered the ambit and reach of Articles 14 and 16 and observed: Article 14 is the genus while Article 16 is one of its species. Article 14 declares that the State shall not deny any person equality before the law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Article 16 gives effect to the doctrine of equality in all matters relating to public employment. Article 16 embodies the fundamental guarantee that there shall be equality of opp ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... arved out some exceptions to this rule, for example, compassionate appointment of the dependent of deceased employees, for the purpose of this case it is not necessary to elaborate that aspect. 14. In Girish Jayanti Lal Vaghela's case, this Court, while reversing an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal which had directed the Union Public Service Commission to relax the age requirement in the respondent's case, elucidated the meaning of the expression "equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to public employment" in the following words: Article 16 which finds place in Part III of the Constitution relating to fundamental rights provides that there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State. The main object of Article 16 is to create a constitutional right to equality of opportunity and employment in public offices. The words `employment' or `appointment' cover not merely the initial appointment but also other attributes of service like promotion and age of superannuation, etc. The appointment to any post under the State can only be made after a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ...The object of recruitment to any service or post is to secure the most suitable person who answers the demands of the requirements of the job. In the case of public employment, it is necessary to eliminate arbitrariness and favouritism and introduce uniformity of standards and orderliness in the matter of employment. There has to be an element of procedural fairness in recruitment. If a public employer chooses to receive applications for employment where and when he pleases, and chooses to make appointments as he likes, a grave element of arbitrariness is certainly introduced. This must necessarily be avoided if Articles 14 and 16 have to be given any meaning. We, therefore, consider that insistence on recruitment through Employment Exchanges advances rather than restricts the rights guaranteed by Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The submission that Employment Exchanges do not reach everywhere applies equally to whatever method of advertising vacancies is adopted. Advertisement in the daily press, for example, is also equally ineffective as it does not reach everyone desiring employment. In the absence of a better method of recruitment, we think that any restriction th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ndidates who have applied. This view was taken to afford equal opportunity to all the eligible candidates in the matter of employment. The rationale behind such direction is also consistent with the sound public policy that wider the opportunity of the notice of vacancy by wider publication in the newspapers, radio, television and employment news bulletin, the better candidates with better qualifications are attracted, so that adequate choices are made available and the best candidates would be selected and appointed to sub-serve the public interest better. 16. The ratio of the above noted three judgments is that in terms of Section 4 of the 1959 Act, every public employer is duty bound to notify the vacancies to the concerned employment exchange so as to enable it to sponsor the names of eligible candidates and also advertise the same in the newspapers having wider circulation, employment news bulletins, get announcement made on radio and television and consider all eligible candidates whose names may be forwarded by the concerned employment exchange and/or who may apply pursuant to the advertisement published in the newspapers or announcements made on radio/television. 17. Notw ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ere untrained for their work and indifferent to it. In the early days, government work was simple. However, as government grew, a serious need for qualified workers developed. After Civil War, pressure started building up for reforms in recruitment to civil services. The gross scandals of President Ulysses S. Grant's administration lent credence to the efforts of reformers George W. Curtis, Dorman B. Eaton and Carl Schurz. In 1871, Congress authorized the President to make regulations for appointment to public services and to constitute Civil Service Commission for that purpose. However, this merit system ended in 1875 because the Congress failed to provide funds for the same. Nevertheless, the experiment proved the merit system to be both functional and supportive. President Rutherford B. Hayes was enamored of reform and began to use competitive examinations as a basis for appointments. In 1881, a spurned office-seeker shot and killed President James A. Garfield. His death provoked further public outcry for civil service reform and paved way for passage of a bill introduced by Sen. George H. Pendleton of Ohio. His bill became the Civil Service Act of 1883 and re-established th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... missions to conduct examinations for appointments to the services of the Union and the State respectively. Clause 3 of Article 320 makes consultation with Union Public Service Commission, or the State Public Service Commission, as the case may be mandatory on all matters relating to methods of recruitment to civil services and for civil posts, on the principles to be followed in making appointments to civil services and posts and in making promotions and transfers from one service to another and on the suitability of candidates for such appointments, promotions or transfers, on all disciplinary matters affecting a person serving under the Government of India or the Government of a State in a civil capacity, including memorials or petitions relating to such matters, on any claim by or in respect of a person who is serving or has served under the Government of India or the Government of a State or under the Crown in India or under the Government of an Indian State, in a civil capacity, that any costs incurred by him in defending legal proceedings instituted against him in respect of acts done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty should be paid out of the Consolidated ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ons with the complaints that appointment to Class III and Class IV posts have been made without issuing any advertisement or sending requisition to the employment exchange as per the requirement of the 1959 Act and those who have links with the party in power or political leaders or who could pull strings in the power corridors get the cake of employment. Cases have also been filed with the complaints that recruitment to the higher strata of civil services made by the Public Service Commissions have been affected by the virus of spoil system in different dimensions and selections have been made for considerations other than merit. 21. Unfortunately, some orders passed by the Courts have also contributed to the spread of spoil system in this country. The judgments of 1980s and early 1990s show that this Court gave expanded meaning to the equality clause enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 and issued directions for treating temporary/ad hoc/daily wage employees at par with regular employees in the matter of payment of salaries etc. The schemes framed by the Governments and public bodies for regularization of illegally appointed temporary/ad hoc/daily wage/casual employees got approval o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on for regularisation of workmen on the only ground that they have put in work for 240 or more days, has been leading. Although there is an Employment Exchange Act which requires recruitment on the basis of registration in the Employment Exchange, it has become a common practice to ignore the Employment Exchange and the persons registered in the Employment Exchanges, and to employ and get employed directly those who are either not registered with the Employment Exchange or who though registered are lower in the long waiting list in the Employment Register. The courts can take judicial notice of the fact that such employment is sought and given directly for various illegal considerations including money. The employment is given first for temporary periods with technical breaks to circumvent the relevant rules, and is continued for 240 or more days with a view to give the benefit of regularization knowing the judicial trend that those who have completed 240 or more days are directed to be automatically regularized. A good deal of illegal employment market has developed resulting in a new source of corruption and frustration of those who are waiting at the Employment Exchanges for yea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d or that the appointments made will not be on considerations other than merit. In the absence of guidelines, the appointments may be made purely on personal or political considerations, and be arbitrary. This being so those who come to be appointed by such arbitrary procedure can hardly complain if the termination of their appointment is equally arbitrary. Those who come by the back door have to go by the same door. This is more so when the order of appointment itself stipulates that the appointment is terminable at any time without assigning any reason. Such appointments are made, accepted and understood by both sides to be purely professional engagements till they last. The fact that they are made by public bodies cannot vest them with additional sanctity. Every appointment made to a public office, howsoever made, is not necessarily vested with public sanctity. There is, therefore, no public interest involved in saving all appointments irrespective of their mode. From the inception some engagements and contracts may be the product of the operation of the spoils system. There need be no legal anxiety to save them. (emphasis added) 24. Notwithstanding the critical observations ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... atutory rules framed thereunder and by ignoring essential qualifications, the appointments would be illegal and cannot be regularised by the State and that the State cannot invoke its power under Article 162 of the Constitution to regularise such appointments. The Court further held that regularisation is not and cannot be a mode of recruitment by any State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution or any body or authority governed by a statutory Act or the rules framed thereunder and the fact that some persons had been working for a long time would not mean that they had acquired a right for regularisation. 26. In Secretary, State of Karnataka v. Uma Devi (2006)IILLJ722SC , the Constitution Bench considered different facets of the issue relating to regularization of services of ad hoc/temporary/daily wage employees and unequivocally ruled that such appointees are not entitled to claim regularization of service as of right. After taking cognizance of large scale irregularities committed in appointment at the lower rungs of the services and noticing several earlier decisions, the Constitution Bench observed: The Union, the States, their departments and instrumentalitie ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... casions issued directions which could not be said to be consistent with the constitutional scheme of public employment. Such directions are issued presumably on the basis of equitable considerations or individualisation of justice. The question arises, equity to whom? Equity for the handful of people who have approached the court with a claim, or equity for the teeming millions of this country seeking employment and seeking a fair opportunity for competing for employment? When one side of the coin is considered, the other side of the coin has also to be considered and the way open to any court of law or justice, is to adhere to the law as laid down by the Constitution and not to make directions, which at times, even if do not run counter to the constitutional scheme, certainly tend to water down the constitutional requirements. It is this conflict that is reflected in these cases referred to the Constitution Bench. While repelling the argument based on equity, the Constitution Bench observed: ...But the fact that such engagements are resorted to, cannot be used to defeat the very scheme of public employment. Nor can a court say that the Union or the State Governments do not have ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ticle 14 read with Article 16 of the Constitution. Therefore, consistent with the scheme for public employment, this Court while laying down the law, has necessarily to hold that unless the appointment is in terms of the relevant rules and after a proper competition among qualified persons, the same would not confer any right on the appointee. If it is a contractual appointment, the appointment comes to an end at the end of the contract, if it were an engagement or appointment on daily wages or casual basis, the same would come to an end when it is discontinued. Similarly, a temporary employee could not claim to be made permanent on the expiry of his term of appointment. It has also to be clarified that merely because a temporary employee or a casual wage worker is continued for a time beyond the term of his appointment, he would not be entitled to be absorbed in regular service or made permanent, merely on the strength of such continuance, if the original appointment was not made by following a due process of selection as envisaged by the relevant rules. It is not open to the court to prevent regular recruitment at the instance of temporary employees whose period of employment has ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sidered in the light of the very clear constitutional scheme, it cannot be said that the employees have been able to establish a legal right to be made permanent even though they have never been appointed in terms of the relevant rules or in adherence of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. The argument that the right to life protected by Article 21 of the Constitution would include the right to employment cannot also be accepted at this juncture. The law is dynamic and our Constitution is a living document. May be at some future point of time, the right to employment can also be brought in under the concept of right to life or even included as a fundamental right. The new statute is perhaps a beginning. As things now stand, the acceptance of such a plea at the instance of the employees before us would lead to the consequence of depriving a large number of other aspirants of an opportunity to compete for the post or employment. Their right to employment, if it is a part of right to life, would stand denuded by the preferring of those who have got in casually or those who have come through the backdoor. The obligation cast on the State under Article 39(a) of the Constitution is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g the claims of all eligible persons. However, without making any endeavour to find out whether the appointments of the respondents were made after following some procedure consistent with the doctrine of equality, the learned Single Judge quashed the termination of their services simply by relying upon the order passed in another case and by observing that the writ petitioners (respondents herein) had been appointed before the cut off date i.e. 28.10.1991 specified in letter dated 16.4.1996 and they had worked for almost 10 years. 29. In the Letters Patent Appeal filed by them, the appellants reiterated that the respondents had been appointed without following any procedure and without any selection. They also contended that even though vacant posts were not available, the then Regional Director, Gaya made large number of illegal appointments and this fact was established in the enquiry got conducted by the department. However, the Division Bench did not deal with the issues raised in the appeal and dismissed the same by making reference to the orders passed in LPA No. 325/2000, Civil Review No. 279/2000 and LPA No. 47/2005 and observing that taking different view in the case of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pointment from his office. A reading of the enquiry report shows that in all the following five charges were leveled against Dr. Darogi Razak: Charge No. 1: You while working as Regional Director, Animal Husbandry, Gaya had made irregular appointments of 61 persons on 23 Class-3 posts and 61 Class-4 posts. As such, the State Funds were misused/wasted on salary, allowances, etc. of the personnel appointed irregularly. Charge No. 2: You while working as Regional Director, Animal Husbandry, Gaya, made appointments on State Level posts (such as Milk Recorder (Dugadh Abhilekhak), Poultry Attendant (Kukkoot Sahayak), Statistics Teller (Sankhiyaki Ganak), Progress Assistant (Pragati Sahayak, etc.) whereas Regional Directors had no power to make such appointments. Director, Animal Husbandy is only competent to make appointments to such posts. Charge No. 3: You adopted the practice of appointment of four or less than four persons at one go for which it is not necessary to give advertisement in the newspapers, but as per Roster, requisition to call for names from Employment Exchange is mandatory. However, you have not complied with this rule. Charge No. 4: You also appointed persons ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gister of Sub Divisional Animal Husbandry Officer, Sadar, Gaya. There is strong possibility arises from this that naturally no one was interested to issue such letters otherwise such a senior officer would have not faced such a situation of giving such written order to a clerk only for issue of letters. The importance of above letters is more clear on perusal of some of the remaining letters because as an exception, some letters have also been issued with Nos. as given below: It remains a matter of surprise that when some letters could be shown to have been issued from office in a normal routine manner, then what is the need of issuing other appointment letters in huge numbers by sometime putting "Confidential", sometime putting "Mukhya (Hq.)" and sometime putting "Camp" and sometime by both "Camp" and "Confidential" contradictory and un-matched Nos. No satisfactory reply to this is found anywhere during the course of hearing. In some cases, it also appears to be very unnatural that charged officer was Regional Director and his headquarter was also Gaya but showing office of Animal Husbandry Officer of Sadar Sub. Division, Gaya as "Camp", letters were got issued from there. Any ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in the Roster Register, classification of available appointments as per Roster, notifying the vacancies to the employment exchange or newspapers, inviting applications, following procedure for registration of applications, thereafter examination of applications as per qualifications, holding meetings of Selection Committee, issue of minutes and issue of appointment letters after completion of work. All these documents going missing appear to be impossible. By merely saying that he followed procedure does not become clear proof that he had done so. In fact, contrary position appears to be more reliable from the statements given by his successors and officials of his office. There are sufficient grounds to hold that the charged officer has not followed the procedure in appointment. Charge No. (5) : Here position is not such in which any file related to appointment was ever seen by anyone. No one has made such admission in his statement. The appointment letters issued by the charged officer himself do not bear any File No. It is correct for the charged officer to state that it is the duty of the office and concerned clerk to maintain File Record Register etc. If charged officer take ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and getting it approved are required to be taken. It is also difficult to accept that all such documents had gone missing at the same time. Merely by saying that safe custody of records was the responsibility of the office is neither complete in itself but credibility of this statement also suffers in view of nature of letters issued. Now question arises is that whether charged officer had removed the files/records of appointments made during his tenure or had taken away by him or somehow destroyed these records. All these three possibilities arise only when such records had been maintained. The type of appointment letters shown from which the fourth possibility also arises that no record has at all been maintained anywhere. As such, there is also no need to remove or take away any document. It is merely a possibility for which charged officer would have needed cooperation and participation of other persons to whom employees were being sent after appointment. It is not possible to finally decide from the evidences produced in this departmental inquiry that out of above three or fourth possibilities, which one is correct. One thing is though clear that charged officer had not lef ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... .5.1992 was a farce. 33. In view of the above discussion, we hold that the initial appointments of the respondents were made in gross violation of the doctrine of equality enshrined in Articles 14 and 16 and the provisions of the 1959 Act and the learned Single Judge gravely erred by directing their reinstatement with consequential benefits. 34. The issue which remains to be considered is whether the Division Bench of the High Court was justified in refusing to examine legality and legitimacy of the initial appointments of the respondents only on the ground that the State had not challenged the dismissal of Letters Patent Appeals filed in other cases. In our view, the approach adopted by the Division Bench was clearly erroneous. By now it is settled that the guarantee of equality before law enshrined in Article 14 is a positive concept and it cannot be enforced by a citizen or court in a negative manner. If an illegality or irregularity has been committed in favour of any individual or a group of individuals or a wrong order has been passed by a judicial forum, others cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the higher or superior Court for repeating or multiplying the same irregularity ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... speaking, the mere fact that the respondent Authority has passed a particular order in the case of another person similarly situated can never be the ground for issuing a writ in favour of the petitioner on the plea of discrimination. The order in favour of the other person might be legal and valid or it might not be. That has to be investigated first before it can be directed to be followed in the case of the petitioner. If the order in favour of the other person is found to be contrary to law or not warranted in the facts and circumstances of his case, it is obvious that such illegal or unwarranted order cannot be made the basis of issuing a writ compelling the respondent Authority to repeat the illegality or to pass another unwarranted order. The extraordinary and discretionary power of the High Court cannot be exercised for such a purpose. Merely because the respondent Authority has passed one illegal/unwarranted order, it does not entitle the High Court to compel the authority to repeat that illegality over again and again. The illegal/unwarranted action must be corrected, if it can be done according to law--indeed, wherever it is possible, the court should direct the appropri ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ight enforceable at law and persons having similar right and persons similarly circumstanced, cannot be denied of the benefit thereof. Such person cannot be discriminated to deny the same benefit. The rational relationship and legal back-up are the foundations to invoke the doctrine of equality in case of persons similarly situated. If some persons derived benefit by illegality and had escaped from the clutches of law, similar persons cannot plead, nor the Court can countenance that benefit had from infraction of law and must be allowed to be retained. One illegality cannot be compounded by permitting similar illegal or illegitimate or ultra vires acts. In Union of India (Railway Board) and Ors. v. J.V. Subhaiah and Ors. (supra), a three-Judge Bench held as under: The principle of equality enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution, as contended for the respondents, does not apply since we have already held that the order of the CAT, Madras Bench is clearly unsustainable in law and illegal which can never form basis to hold that the other employees are invidiously discriminated offending Article 14. The employees covered by the order of the Madras Bench may be dealt with by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... discrimination against others if correct orders are passed against them. The benefit of the exemption notification, in the present case, cannot, therefore, be extended to the petitioner on the ground that such benefit has been wrongly extended to others. The above principles were extended to the judgment of the Court in State of Bihar v. Kameshwar Prasad Singh (supra) wherein this Court held as under: The concept of equality as envisaged under Article 14 of the Constitution is a positive concept which cannot be enforced in a negative manner. When any authority is shown to have committed any illegality or irregularity in favour of any individual or group of individuals, others cannot claim the same illegality or irregularity on the ground of denial thereof to them. Similarly wrong judgment passed in favour of one individual does not entitle others to claim similar benefits. (emphasis added) In State of Haryana v. Ram Kumar Mann (supra), this Court ruled that the High Court was not right in issuing a mandamus to the State to allow the petitioner to withdraw his resignation merely because in another case such a course as adopted. Some of the observations made in that case, which ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sed into service in such cases. What the concept of equal treatment presupposes is existence of similar legal foothold. It does not countenance repetition of a wrong action to bring both wrongs on a par. Even if hypothetically it is accepted that a wrong has been committed in some other cases by introducing a concept of negative equality the respondents cannot strengthen their case. They have to establish strength of their case on some other basis and not by claiming negative equality. In Directorate of Film Festivals and Ors. v. Gaurav Ashwin Jain and Ors. (supra), a two-Judge Bench, after making a reference to the judgments in Jagjit Singh's case and Gursharan Singh's case, observed: When a grievance of discrimination is made, the High Court cannot just examine whether someone similarly situated has been granted a relief or benefit and then automatically direct grant of such relief or benefit to the person aggrieved. The High Court has to first examine whether the petitioner who has approached the court has established a right, entitling him to the relief sought on the facts and circumstances of the case. In the context of such examination, the fact that some others, w ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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