IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WP(C).No. 12551 of 2009(L)
1. LT.COL.(RETD)K.G.RAMACHANDRAN,
... Petitioner
Vs
1. STATE OF KERALA,
... Respondent
2. THE CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER,
3. SHRI MULLAKKARA RATNAKARAN,
For Petitioner :SRI.P.M.MOHAMMED SHIRAZ
For Respondent :SRI.MURALI PURUSHOTHAMAN, SC,ELE.COMMN.
The Hon'ble MR. Justice P.N.RAVINDRAN
Dated :02/06/2009
O R D E R
P.N.RAVINDRAN, J.
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W.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L
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Dated this the 2nd day of June, 2009.
J U D G M E N T
Heard Sri.T.M.Mohammad Youseff, the learned Senior Advocate
appearing for the petitioner and Sri.Ranjith Thampan, the learned
Additional Advocate General appearing for the respondents.
2. The petitioner is the Managing Director of Kerala State
Warehousing Corporation, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Corporation’ for
short. He was appointed as the Managing Director of the Corporation by
Ext.P1 Government order dated 5.10.2006. In this writ petition the
petitioner challenges Ext.P6 note whereby the Hon’ble Minister for
Agriculture ordered that the petitioner’s service as Managing Director of
the Corporation is terminated with immediate effect and the General
Manager (Construction) is given full additional charge of the Managing
Director, until further orders. The petitioner contends that Ext.P6 has
been issued in violation of the stipulations in Section 22 of the
Warehousing Corporations Act, 1962, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’
for short and that before Ext.P6 was issued, he was not put on notice or
heard.
3. This writ petition was presented on 20.4.2009 and it came up
for admission on 21.4.2009. On that day, while admitting the writ
petition this Court stayed the termination of the service of the petitioner
W.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L 2
pursuant to Ext.P6 and allowed him to continue as Managing Director of
the Corporation for a period of six weeks. The respondents have filed
I.A.No. 6381 of 2009 for vacating the interim order passed by this Court
on 21.4.2009. Sri.T.M.Mohammad Youseff, the learned Senior Advocate
appearing for the petitioner contends that as the decision evidenced by
Ext.P6 was taken without notice to the petitioner and without affording
him a reasonable opportunity to show cause why he should not be
removed from office, Ext.P6 is liable to be set aside. The learned Senior
Advocate for the petitioner relies on the stipulations in sub section (1) of
Section 22 of the Act in support of the said contention. Per Contra the
learned Additional Advocate General, relying on the decision of the
Constitution Bench of the Apex Court in Bachhittar Singh, V. State of
Punjab & another (AIR 1963 SC 395) and the averments in para 5 of the
affidavit filed in support of I.A.No. 6381 of 2009 contended that Ext.P6
has no efficacy and that the note made by the Hon’ble Minister on the file
which is likely to be altered or changed, cannot be said to be an order of
the Government. The learned Additional Advocate General contended
that Ext.P6 has no efficacy and therefore the writ petition is premature.
The learned Additional Advocate General also submitted that the
Government will take a decision on the question whether the petitioner
should be removed from office, only after complying with the stipulations
in sub section (1) of Section 22 of the Act.
W.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L 3
4. I have considered the submissions made at the Bar by the
learned counsel appearing on either side. Ext.P6 reads as follows:
“The ServiceState Shri.K.G.Ramachandran, Managing
of
Director,
terminatedKerala immediate effect and Shri.A.Rajendra
Ware Housing Corporation is
with
Panicker, General Manager (Construction) is given full
additional charge of Managing Director, until further orders.”
The stand taken by the learned Additional Advocate General is that
Ext.P6 is only a note made by the Hon’ble Minister on the complaint filed
by the Chairman of the Corporation and that as Ext.P6 is not an order of
the State Government expressed in the name of the Governor as required
by clause (1) of Article 166 of the Constitution of India, it cannot be said
to be an order passed by the Government. The learned Additional
Advocate General further contended that as no Government order
removing the petitioner from service has been issued and communicated
to the petitioner, the writ petition is premature. The Apex Court in
Bachhittar Singh, V. State of Punjab & another (AIR 1963 SC 395)
considered an identical question and held as follows:
“9. The question, therefore, is whether he did in fact
make such an order. Merely writing something on the file does
not amount to an order. Before something amounts to an order
of the State Government two things are necessary. The order
has to be expressed in the name of the Governor as required by
cl. (1) of Art. 166 and then it has to be communicated. As
already indicated, no formal order modifying the decision of the
Revenue Secretary was ever made. Until such an order is drawn
up the State Government cannot in our opinion be regarded as
bound by what was stated in the file. As long as the matterW.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L 4
rested with him the Revenue Minister could well score out his
remarks or minutes on the file and write fresh once.
10) The business of State is a complicated one and has
necessarily to be conducted through the agency of a large
number of officials and authorities. The Constitution therefore
requires and so did the Rules of Business framed by the
Rajpramukh of Pepsu provide, that the action must be taken by
the authority concerned in the name of the Rajpramukh. It is not
till this formality is observed that the action can be regarded as
that on the State or here, by the Rajpramukh. We may further
observe that, constitutionally speaking, the Minister is no more
than an adviser and that the head of the State, the Governor or
Rajpramukh, is to act with the aid and advice of his Council of
Ministers. Therefore until such advice is accepted by the
Governor whatever the Minister or the Council of Ministers say in
regard to a particular matter does not become the action of the
State until the advice of the Council of Ministers is accepted or
deemed to be accepted by the Head of the State. Indeed, it is
possible that after expressing one opinion about a particular
matter at a particular stage a Minister or the Council of Ministers
may express quite a different opinion, one which may be
completely opposed to the earlier opinion. Which of them can be
regarded as the ‘order’ of the State Government? Therefore, to
make the opinion amount to a decision of the Government it
must be communicated to the person concerned. In this
connection we may quote the following from the judgment of
this Court in the State of Punjab V. Sodhi Sukhdev Singh, AIR
1961 SC 493 at p.512.
“Mr.Gopal Singh attempted to argue that before the final
order was passed the Council of Ministers had decided to accept
the respondent representation and to reinstate him, and that,
according to him, the respondent seeks to prove by calling the
two original orders. We are unable to understand this argument.
Even if the Council of Ministers had provisionally decided to
reinstate the respondent that would not prevent the Council from
reconsidering the matter and coming to a contrary conclusion
later on, until a final decision is reached by them and is
communicated to the Rajpramukh in the form of advice and acted
upon by him by issuing an order in that behalf to the
respondent.”
W.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L 5
Thus it is of the essence that the order has to be
communicated to the person who would be affected by that order
before the State and that person can be bound by that order.
For, until the order is communicated to the person affected by it,
it would be open to the Council of Ministers to consider the
matter
communication the order canagainst regarded as anything more
over and over and, therefore, till its
not be
than provisional in character.”
5. The Apex Court held that before something amounts to
an order of the State Government two things are necessary, (i) the order
has to be expressed in the name of the Governor as required by clause
(1) of Article 166 of the Constitution and (ii) it has to be communicated
to the person who would be affected by that order. It was held until such
an order is drawn up by the State Government, the notes made by the
Hon’ble Minister on the file cannot be said to be an order of the State
Government. The Apex Court also noticed that it is possible that after
expressing one opinion about a particular matter at a particular stage, a
Minister of the Council of Ministers may later express quite a different
opinion, one which may be completely opposed to the earlier opinion and
therefore to make the opinion amount to a decision of the Government it
must be a final decision communicated to the person concerned. Tested
in the light of the principles laid down by the Apex Court in Bachhittar
Singh, V. State of Punjab & another (supra), I am pursuaded to agree
with the learned Additional Advocate General that Ext.P6 cannot said to
be an order of the State Government removing the petitioner from office.
W.P(C) No. 12551of 2009 -L 6
The respondents have in paragraph 5 of the affidavit filed in support of
I.A.No. 6381 of 2009 virtually conceded this position.
I accordingly hold that the challenge to Ext.P6 is misconceived and
that the writ petition is premature. In the light of the undertaking made
by the Government in paragraph 5 of the affidavit filed in support of I.A.
6381 of 2009, the petitioner cannot have any grievance that Ext.P6 note
will affect his right to continue in office as Managing Director of the
Corporation. Such being situation, the writ petition is dismissed as
premature, leaving open the contentions of both sides and reserving
liberty with the Government to pass orders in terms of Section 22(1) of
the Warehousing Corporation Act, 1962, if the Government wish to
proceed further in the matter.
Sd/-
P.N.RAVINDRAN
JUDGE
//True Copy//
PA to Judge
ab