IAS/IPS cadre allocation can't be arbitrary: SC

Allocation of cadre for the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers cannot be done by the Centre in an arbitrary manner, the Supreme Court has said.

A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said in a judgement that though IAS/IPS officers have no vested right or preference for choice of their postings, allocation of cadre states should be done in a just and equitable manner.

"While making allocations of different candidates appointed to the service to different state cadres or joint cadres, the central government has also to discharge its constitutional obligations contained in the equality principles in Articles 14 (equality) and 16(1)(equal opportunity in terms of employment) of the Constitution.

"A member appointed to the All India Service has no right to be allocated to a particular state cadre or joint cadre but he has a right to a fair and equitable treatment in the matter of allocation under Articles 14 and 16(1) of the Constitution," Justice Patnaik, writing the judgement, said.

The apex court made the remarks while dismissing the Centre's appeal challenging an Andhra Pradesh high court order quashing allocation of home cadre to Vikrama Varma who secured 201st rank in the 2004 Civil Services Exam conducted by Union Public Service Commission overlooking the claim of Avinash Mohanty who had obtained 45th rank.

While Mohanty was allocated Chhattisgarh cadre, Vikrama Varma was given AP cadre.

The high court held that allocation of Vikrama Varma to Andhra Pradesh cadre would make a total of ten OBC candidates in the 30 point roster, which was 6 percent excess over the 27 percent reservation in favour of OBC candidates and quashed the allocation.

Aggrieved, the Centre and Varma appealed in the apex court contending the rules were apparently bent to favour Varma despite the fact that he was not entitled to be allocated the home state cadre.

"It appears to us that only with a view to somehow justifying the allocation of Vikrama Varma, an OBC candidate, to Andhra Pradesh cadre from the Civil Services Examination,2004, the Union of India has taken the figures of allocation of candidates selected for the IPS in the five Civil Services Examinations of 1999 to 2003 instead of taking the figures of appointments to the vacancies in the 30 point roster starting from the 1994 Civil Services Examination till 2003 Civil Services Examinations.

"The high court was, therefore, right in coming to the conclusion that allocation of Vikrama Varma to Andhra Pradesh cadre was in violation of the guidelines contained in the letter dated 31.05.1985 and was clearly arbitrary and not equitable," the bench added.