Observing that the State government has given the go-by to the apex court’s order as well as the law enacted way back in 2014 governing the posting of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, the High Court of Karnataka has set a deadline of two months for the government to set up a Civil Service Board (CSB) for recommending transfer and posting of IAS officers.
“The directions issued by apex court in the T.S.R. Subramaniam case, rather than being implemented, have been made to vanish into thin air, though not directly but indirectly...,” the court observed. The Supreme Court had directed the setting up of an CSB and the fixing of minimum tenure to curb political and other considerations in the transfer and posting of IAS officers.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice N.S. Sanjay Gowda issued the direction while disposing of petitions filed by IAS officer Sharath B. and the government questioning the March 29 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal.
Mr. Sharath had sought directions to post him as Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru district as the tribunal had declined to issue such a direction despite finding that his transfer was done sans recommendation from the CSB. The government had questioned the tribunal’s order of declaring as invalid the government’s March 12, 2014, notification through which it had kept in abeyance an earlier notification, dated January 31, 2014, of constituting the CSB and fixing a minimum tenure of two years, except in certain circumstances, at a cadre post for IAS officers, as per the apex court’s order.
Amendment
While noting that the Union government itself, based on the apex court’s verdict, had amended the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954, with effect from January 28, 2014, creating the CSB and fixing minimum tenure for IAS officers, the Bench noted that the State Cabinet had, on March 3, 2014, decided to keep the January 2014 notification in abeyance and “to continue the conventions being followed previously” on the posting of IAS officers.
“What was the previous convention that was followed, whether by way of any extant rules, Government Orders, circulars or notifications, is not forthcoming and it has remained a mystery,” the Bench noted.
Though a Cabinet sub-committee was set up six years ago to examine implementation of apex court’s direction, the sub-committee has not submitted any report but the committee itself was dissolved, the Court noted.
In this manner, the Bench said the State government itself had “given quietus to its January 31, 2014, notification and in effect nullified the mandate of the judgment passed by the apex court”. The Bench found no fault in the tribunal’s finding that the government had no power in law to keep the CSB in abeyance.
No relief for IAS officer
Despite finding fault in the process of his transfer, the High Court of Karnataka has not considered IAS officer Sharath’s plea to direct the government to post him back as Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru because of his conduct after he was transferred out from that post on September 28, 2020.
The court said that he had not only refrained from reporting to the new post till April 1, 2021, on “so-called health grounds”, but also not submitted any representation to the competent authority on the matter. “This conduct of Mr. Sharath would also indicate that if he had continued at the same place [as DC of Mysuru], he would not have been in a position to attend to his duties due to health reasons, as he has claimed.”
The Bench said that Mr. Sharath, being a civil servant, “ought to have reported to the place of new posting and could have submitted a representation to the competent authority for reconsideration of transfer”.
The government had then appointed another IAS officer, Rohini Sindhuri, as Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru in his place.
