{"id":209891,"date":"2009-02-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/the-union-of-india-vs-k-s-gopan-on-6-february-2009"},"modified":"2014-03-08T09:31:27","modified_gmt":"2014-03-08T04:01:27","slug":"the-union-of-india-vs-k-s-gopan-on-6-february-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/the-union-of-india-vs-k-s-gopan-on-6-february-2009","title":{"rendered":"The Union Of India vs K.S.Gopan on 6 February, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Kerala High Court<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">The Union Of India vs K.S.Gopan on 6 February, 2009<\/div>\n<pre>       \n\n  \n\n  \n\n \n \n  IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM\n\nWP(C).No. 25972 of 2006(S)\n\n\n1. THE UNION OF INDIA,\n                      ...  Petitioner\n2. THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF\n3. THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A&amp;E),\n4. THE SR.ACCOUNTS OFFICER,\n\n                        Vs\n\n\n\n1. K.S.GOPAN, S\/O.SOMANATHAN NAIR,\n                       ...       Respondent\n\n2. JACOB K.SAMUEL,\n\n3. N.MANOJ, S\/O.O.S.NEELAKANDA PILLAI,\n\n                For Petitioner  :SRI.JOHN VARGHESE, ASSISTANT SG\n\n                For Respondent  :SRI.M.R.HARIRAJ\n\nThe Hon'ble MR. Justice K.BALAKRISHNAN NAIR\nThe Hon'ble MR. Justice M.L.JOSEPH FRANCIS\n\n Dated :06\/02\/2009\n\n O R D E R\n K. BALAKRISHNAN NAIR &amp; M.L.JOSEPH FRANCIS, JJ.\n                ----------------------------------------\n                 W.P.(C) No.25972 OF 2006\n                ----------------------------------------\n          Dated this the 6th day of February, 2009\n\n                        J U D G M E N T\n<\/pre>\n<p>                        ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n<p>Balakrishnan Nair, J.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>      The respondents in O.A.No.201\/2002 before the Central<\/p>\n<p>Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench, are the writ<\/p>\n<p>petitioners. The applicants therein are the respondents herein.<\/p>\n<p>      2.  The       applicants       approached         the  Central<\/p>\n<p>Administrative Tribunal, seeking the following reliefs:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>           &#8220;i)  To quash Annexure A1 to the extent it<br \/>\n           denies   reservation    in  promotion     to  the<br \/>\n           physically         handicapped            persons<br \/>\n           retrospectively from 20.11.1989.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>           ii)  To declare that 3% vacancies in the<br \/>\n           cadre of Accountant, Senior Accountant and<br \/>\n           Group B Section Officer cadre under the<br \/>\n           respondent department are liable to be<br \/>\n           reserved for physically handicapped persons<br \/>\n           with effect from 20.11.1989 and to direct the<br \/>\n           respondents to consider the applicants for<br \/>\n           promotion    as    Accountant       and    Senior<br \/>\n           Accountants on the basis of reservation for<br \/>\n           physically handicapped with retrospective<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006              2<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            effect from 20.11.1989 with all consequential<br \/>\n            benefits  including   further  promotion   as<br \/>\n            Section Officer against the 3% quota reserved<br \/>\n            for physically handicapped.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>      3.    The brief facts of the case are the following:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>      The applicants are working as Clerks\/Typists under the 3rd<\/p>\n<p>petitioner. They are all physically challenged persons, having<\/p>\n<p>disability above 40%. They claimed 3% reservation in the matter<\/p>\n<p>of promotion to the post of Accountant, which is a Group &#8216;C&#8217; post.<\/p>\n<p>They submitted that the post of Accountant was identified as a<\/p>\n<p>post for the purpose of grant of reservation to physically<\/p>\n<p>challenged persons, as per O.Ms dated 28.2.1986 and<\/p>\n<p>25.11.1986. They submit that those O.Ms were made applicable<\/p>\n<p>for promotion to the post of Accountant under the Central<\/p>\n<p>Government and establishments under it with effect from<\/p>\n<p>20.11.1989. Therefore, they claimed the benefit of reservation<\/p>\n<p>with retrospective effect from that date.       Their claim in this<\/p>\n<p>regard was considered by the competent authority and rejected<\/p>\n<p>by Annexure-A1 dated 14.9.2001. It was held that the posts of<\/p>\n<p>Accountant as well as Auditor were identified for the purpose of<\/p>\n<p>reservation to physically handicapped persons in the matter of<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006             3<\/span><\/p>\n<p>promotion with effect from 14.9.2001 only. Challenging the said<\/p>\n<p>order, the Original Application was filed.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>     4.     The applicants relied on Section 32 of the Persons<\/p>\n<p>with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and<\/p>\n<p>Full Participation) Act, 1975 (hereinafter referred to as &#8220;the<\/p>\n<p>Act&#8221;), in support of their claim. According to them, appropriate<\/p>\n<p>Government, as far as the office of the Comptroller and Auditor<\/p>\n<p>General of India is concerned, is the Central Government. The<\/p>\n<p>Central Government have issued orders identifying the posts of<\/p>\n<p>Accountant as well as Auditor for reservation. The said<\/p>\n<p>identification by the Central Government binds the Comptroller<\/p>\n<p>and Auditor General also. Therefore, they claimed the benefit of<\/p>\n<p>reservation with retrospective effect, atleast from 1989.<\/p>\n<p>According to the writ petitioners\/respondents, the Comptroller<\/p>\n<p>and Auditor General had identified the aforementioned posts for<\/p>\n<p>the purpose of reservation to physically challenged persons in<\/p>\n<p>the matter of promotion only on 14.9.2001 and with effect from<\/p>\n<p>that date only, the benefit will be granted.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006               4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>     5.     The Tribunal considered the rival submissions and<\/p>\n<p>disposed of the Original Application in the following manner:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;7.    In our considered view, the inaction on<br \/>\n            the part of the respondents in implementing<br \/>\n            the orders of the Government of India<br \/>\n            contained in OM dated 20.11.89 (supra) is<br \/>\n            absolutely arbitrary and unconstitutional and<br \/>\n            it caused irreparable loss to the applicants<br \/>\n            and other similarly placed persons in the<br \/>\n            Respondent Department for a long time. The<br \/>\n            applicants have been purposely denied their<br \/>\n            right for consideration for promotion in terms<br \/>\n            of the said OM dated 20.11.89 for nearly 12<br \/>\n            years    as  observed    above.     Had    the<br \/>\n            respondents     identified    the   post     of<br \/>\n            Accountant to be filled up by promotion in<br \/>\n            1989 for even in 1990, the applicants could<br \/>\n            have been considered during the panel year<br \/>\n            1990 itself. It was due to the dereliction of<br \/>\n            duty of the concerned officials, such a<br \/>\n            consideration was denied to the applicants for<br \/>\n            12 years. In this view of the matter, we direct<br \/>\n            the Respondents to consider the applicants<br \/>\n            for promotion to the post of Accountant for<br \/>\n            the reserved quota for physically handicapped<br \/>\n            for the panel year 1990 onwards and promote<br \/>\n            them from the date they become eligible for<br \/>\n            such promotion as if the post of Accountant<br \/>\n            had been identified as such for being filled by<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006              5<\/span><\/p>\n<p>            the physically handicapped persons for the<br \/>\n            purpose of providing reservation in promotion<br \/>\n            in the year 1990.     This exercise shall be<br \/>\n            completed within a period of three months<br \/>\n            from the date of receipt of this order.    As<br \/>\n            regards the question of not identifying the<br \/>\n            post of Section Officer for the purpose of<br \/>\n            reservation to the physically handicapped<br \/>\n            persons in promotion neither the applicants<br \/>\n            nor    the   Respondents    have   given   any<br \/>\n            reasons\/justification for doing so\/not doing<br \/>\n            so. The applicants are permitted to make a<br \/>\n            detailed representation if they are so advised<br \/>\n            in this regard and if it is made, the<br \/>\n            Respondents shall consider the same within a<br \/>\n            period of three months from the date of<br \/>\n            receipt of the same and pass a reasoned and<br \/>\n            speaking order.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            8.     Considering the totality of the matter<br \/>\n            and particularly the fact that the applicants<br \/>\n            being physically handicapped persons had to<br \/>\n            approach this Tribunal for securing their<br \/>\n            statutory rights for the second time which<br \/>\n            had been denied to them for a long period of<br \/>\n            nearly 12 years for no valid reasons by the<br \/>\n            respondents, we consider it fit to award a<br \/>\n            cost of Rs.1000\/- (One thousand) each to the<br \/>\n            applicants   amount   to  Rs.3,000\/-   (Three<br \/>\n            thousand) in total which shall be paid by the<br \/>\n            respondents within the afore stated period of<br \/>\n            three months.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006               6<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The aggrieved respondents in the Original Application have<\/p>\n<p>come up before this Court, by filing this writ petition.<\/p>\n<p>     6.     We heard the learned counsel on both sides. Sections<\/p>\n<p>32 and 33 of the Act read as follows:\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;32. Identification of posts which can be<br \/>\n            reserved for persons with disabilities:-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            Appropriate Governments shall-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  (a)   identify     posts,     in     the<br \/>\n            establishments, which can be reserved for<br \/>\n            the persons with disability;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  (b)   at   periodical    intervals    not<br \/>\n            exceeding three years, review the list of<br \/>\n            posts identified and up-date the list taking<br \/>\n            into   consideration   the   developments    in<br \/>\n            technology.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            33.   Reservation      of     posts:-     Every<br \/>\n            appropriate Government shall appoint in every<br \/>\n            establishment such percentage of vacancies<br \/>\n            not less than three percent for persons or<br \/>\n            class of persons with disability of which one<br \/>\n            percent each shall be reserved for persons<br \/>\n            suffering from &#8211;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  (i)   blindness or low vision;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  (ii)  hearing impairment;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>                  (iii) locomotor disability or<br \/>\n                        cerebral palsy in the posts<br \/>\n                        identified for each disability:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006                7<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>                  Provided      that    the    appropriate<br \/>\n            Government may, having regard to the type of<br \/>\n            work carried on in any department or<br \/>\n            establishment, by notification subject to such<br \/>\n            conditions, if any, as may be specified in such<br \/>\n            notification, exempt any establishment from<br \/>\n            the provisions of this section.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>     Appropriate Government is defined in Section 2(a) of the<\/p>\n<p>Act, which reads as follows:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;2(a) Appropriate Government means:-\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            (i)    in relation to the Central Government,<br \/>\n            or any establishment wholly or substantially<br \/>\n            financed by that Government or a Cantonment<br \/>\n            Board constituted under the Cantonments<br \/>\n            Act,    1924    (2   or   1924),  the   Central<br \/>\n            Government;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            (ii)   in relation to a State Government or any<br \/>\n            establishment wholly or substantially financed<br \/>\n            by that Government, or any local authority,<br \/>\n            other than a Cantonment Board, the State<br \/>\n            Government;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            (iii)  in respect of the Central Co-ordination<br \/>\n            Committee       and    the   State   Executive<br \/>\n            Committee, the Central Government;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            (iv)   in respect of the State Co-ordination<br \/>\n            Committee       and    the   State   Executive<br \/>\n            Committee, the State Government.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006              8<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     7.     The Act was enforced with effect from 7.2.1996. The<\/p>\n<p>Comptroller and Auditor General of India is an independent<\/p>\n<p>constitutional authority. Service conditions of employees under<\/p>\n<p>the Indian Audit and Accounts Department are to be prescribed<\/p>\n<p>by the President after consultation with the Comptroller and<\/p>\n<p>Auditor General.        So, the general orders or the office<\/p>\n<p>memorandums issued by the Department of Personnel and<\/p>\n<p>Training, it appears, are not automatically applicable to the said<\/p>\n<p>Department and the employees working under the Comptroller<\/p>\n<p>and Auditor General of India. The provision in this regard is<\/p>\n<p>contained in Article 148(5) of the Constitution of India, which<\/p>\n<p>reads as follows:\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>            &#8220;(5) Subject to the provisions of this<br \/>\n            Constitution  and   of   any  law  made   by<br \/>\n            Parliament, the conditions of service of<br \/>\n            persons serving in the Indian Audit and<br \/>\n            Accounts Department and the administrative<br \/>\n            powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-<br \/>\n            General shall be such as may be prescribed by<br \/>\n            rules    made   by   the   President    after<br \/>\n            consultation   with   the  Comptroller   and<br \/>\n            Auditor-General.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006           9<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>     8.     But, the above provision is subject to any Act of<\/p>\n<p>Parliament.      Therefore, after     the   enactment   of   the<\/p>\n<p>aforementioned Act, any decision of the Central Government<\/p>\n<p>under Section 32 will bind the Comptroller and Auditor General<\/p>\n<p>of India and be applicable to the offices under him. Unless the<\/p>\n<p>executive orders issued by the Government before the<\/p>\n<p>enforcement of the above Act are issued in consultation with the<\/p>\n<p>Comptroller and Auditor General of India, such orders will not<\/p>\n<p>apply to the establishments or the offices under him.   But, as<\/p>\n<p>mentioned earlier, after the enforcement of the above Act, the<\/p>\n<p>situation has changed. We are of the view that the Comptroller<\/p>\n<p>and Auditor General will also be bound by any identification of<\/p>\n<p>posts made by the Central Government under Section 32. In<\/p>\n<p>other words, the stand of the writ petitioners that the<\/p>\n<p>identification made by the Comptroller and Auditor General in<\/p>\n<p>2001 alone will bind them cannot be upheld, provided there are<\/p>\n<p>orders issued under Section 32 of the Act between the date of<\/p>\n<p>enforcement of the Act and 14.9.2001, the date on which<\/p>\n<p>Annexure A1 order was issued. To decide the point, there are<\/p>\n<p>not sufficient materials before us. So, whether retrospectivity<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006            10<\/span><\/p>\n<p>can be given to the claim for promotion beyond 14.9.2001 will<\/p>\n<p>depend upon the issuance of a valid order identifying the post of<\/p>\n<p>Accountant or Auditor by the Central Government under<\/p>\n<p>Section 32.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>     9.     The learned counsel for the applicants\/respondents<\/p>\n<p>pointed out that the above posts were already identified by the<\/p>\n<p>executive orders issued in 1986 and they were mentioned and<\/p>\n<p>incorporated      in the   subsequent    orders  issued by   the<\/p>\n<p>Government, after the enforcement of the aforementioned Act.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, atleast from the date of issuance of such orders, the<\/p>\n<p>applicants are entitled to get the benefit of reservation, it is<\/p>\n<p>pointed out.       We feel that this is a matter which should be<\/p>\n<p>considered by the Tribunal, having regard to the orders issued<\/p>\n<p>by the Central Government after the enforcement of the Act.<\/p>\n<p>     For the said purpose, we think the matter should be<\/p>\n<p>remitted to the C.A.T. So, we quash Ext.P7 and remit the matter<\/p>\n<p>to the C.A.T. for fresh disposal of the Original Application, in<\/p>\n<p>accordance with law, in the light of the observations made by us<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"hidden_text\">W.P.(C) No.25972\/2006           11<\/span><\/p>\n<p>herein above.        The Central Administrative Tribunal shall<\/p>\n<p>endeavour to hear and dispose of the matter, as expeditiously as<\/p>\n<p>possible, preferably within five months, from the date of<\/p>\n<p>production of a copy of this judgment.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>                           (K.BALAKRISHNAN NAIR, JUDGE)<\/p>\n<p>                           (M.L.JOSEPH FRANCIS, JUDGE)<\/p>\n<p>ps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kerala High Court The Union Of India vs K.S.Gopan on 6 February, 2009 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM WP(C).No. 25972 of 2006(S) 1. THE UNION OF INDIA, &#8230; Petitioner 2. THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF 3. THE ACCOUNTANT GENERAL (A&amp;E), 4. THE SR.ACCOUNTS OFFICER, Vs 1. K.S.GOPAN, S\/O.SOMANATHAN NAIR, &#8230; Respondent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-court","category-kerala-high-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Union Of India vs K.S.Gopan on 6 February, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/the-union-of-india-vs-k-s-gopan-on-6-february-2009\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Union Of India vs K.S.Gopan on 6 February, 2009 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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