TMI Blog1975 (12) TMI 187X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a Superintendent in the Panchayat Department, he was appointed Officer on Special Duty (Elections). The post of Officer on Special Duty (Elections) was an ex-cadre post, while that of Superintendent was included in the cadre. With effect from November 1, 1961 the post of Officer on Special Duty was re- designated as Panchayati Raj Election Officer. The respondent held the post of Panchayati Raj Election Officer temporarily till 1964 when that post was made permanent. The respondent was confirmed as Panchayati Raj Election Officer with effect from September 19, 1964. The decision to confirm the respondent was taken with a view to ensure the lien of the respondent on that post as the respondent had been selected by the Government of India as Gram Panchayat Officer in the Indian Aid Mission, Nepal. An undertaking was also obtained from the respondent at the time he was confirmed that this would not affect the seniority of B. N. Sharma, who was senior to the respondent and who was then holding the temporary post of Planning Officer. On the reorganization of the erstwhile State of Punjab with effect from November 1, 1966 the post of Planning Officer held by B. N. Sharma was allocated t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... to pension/gratuity in accordance with the rules in Chapter VI of the Civil Service Rules, Volume II, as amended from time to time, but the pension shall not be payable for the period in respect of which he has been allowed gratuity in lieu of three months' notice. J. S. Sarohia Secretary to Govt. Haryana Chandigarh Development Panchayat Department Dated: 13th July, 1972 The respondent in his petition while assailing the impugned order levelled allegations of mala fide against Shri Shyam Chand, then Minister for Development and Panchayats, Haryana but the said allegations were not pressed at the time of arguments. Following two contentions were advanced on behalf of the respondent: (1) The impugned order dated July 13, 1972 abolishing the post of Planning-cum-Panchayati Raj Election Officer held by the respondent and the consequent termination of his services was arbitrary and had no reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved, namely, meeting the financial stringency. The impugned order was stated to be violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution inasmuch as the respondent who was at all times selected for higher posts and got promotions from the low ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... decision and substitute its own opinion for that of the Government on the point as to whether a post should or should not be abolished. The decision to abolish the post should, however, as already mentioned, be taken in good faith and be not used as a cloak or pretence to terminate the services of a person holding that post. In case it is found on consideration of the facts of a case that the abolition of the post was only a device to terminate the services of an employee, the abolition of the post would suffer from a serious infirmity and would be liable to be set aside. The termination of a post in good faith and the consequent termination of the services of the incumbent of that post would not attract article 311. In M. Ramanatha Pillai v. The State of Kerala Anr.(1) Ray C.J. speaking for the Constitution Bench of this Court observed: A post may be abolished in good faith. The order abolishing the post may lose its effective character if it is established to have been made arbitrarily, malafide or as a mask of some penal action within the meaning of article 311 (2). It was further observed: The abolition of post may have the consequence of termination of service o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... economy measure to meet financial stringency. We see no cogent ground to question the averments made in the above affidavits. The averments show that the decision to abolish the post of Panchayati Raj Election Officer was taken because of administrative reasons. The question as to whether greater economy could have been brought about by adopting some other course is not for the court to go into, for the court cannot sit as a court of appeal in such matters. It may be that some of the functions which were being previously performed by the respondent are now being performed by Deputy Directors whose posts have not been abolished, this fact would not show that the decision to abolish the post held by the respondent was not taken in good faith. After the posts of Deputy Directors had been created and had been in existence along with the post of Panchayati Raj Election Officer for a number of months, the Government, it would appear, decided to abolish some of the posts to meet the financial stringency. In taking the decision as to which post to abolish and which not to abolish, the Government, it seems, took into account the relative usefulness of each post and decided to abolish the se ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce with the rules because of the revival of the lien of the respondent on the post of Head Assistant. Mr. Sibal has also stated that the respondent may exercise his option of taking compensation pension in accordance with rule 5.2 of the Punjab Civil Services Rules Vol. II because of the abolition of the post of Panchayati Raj Election Officer. In case the respondent does so, it would be for the Government to pass appropriate orders in the matter. Submission has further been made by Mr. Sibal that the respondent should not in view of the hardship suffered by him be compelled to make refund out of the salary which he has been drawing during the pendency of the appeal. This again is a matter which is entirely for the Government to decide and we are sure that the Government would pass appropriate order keeping in view all the circumstances of the case. We accordingly accept the appeal and set aside the judgment of the High Court. We hold that the order of the Government abolishing the post of Panchayati Raj Election Officer does not suffer from any infirmity and as such is not liable to be quashed. We further hold that on the abolition of that post, the lien of the respondent o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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