Supreme Court of India
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC.versusSTATE OF PUNJAB & ORS.
- Citation
- 2014 INSC 408
- Decided
- 23 May 2014
- Disposal
- Case Partly allowed
- Bench
- B S CHAUHAN
Holding
The Court held that where non‑tainted candidates can be segregated, the selection process cannot be declared wholly vitiated; such candidates must be reinstated (with seniority adjusted), while the services of tainted candidates may be terminated.
Summary
The Punjab Public Service Commission’s chairman was found to have taken bribes and manipulated the recruitment of executive, allied services and judicial officers between 1998‑2002. Consequently, the State terminated the services of all appointed officers. The High Court upheld the termination, treating the entire selection process as vitiated. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether the process could be declared void after a Committee had successfully segregated tainted from non‑tainted candidates. It held that tainted candidates could be dismissed, but non‑tainted candidates, who were selected on merit, must be reinstated (without counting the period out of service for seniority). The Court set aside the High Court’s order for the non‑tainted officers and directed their immediate reinstatement, while upholding termination of the tainted officers. The appeal was partly allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether candidates facing criminal trial can be classified as tainted.
- Whether the selection of candidates not facing criminal trial is vitiated in view of the investigation.
- Whether the State was justified in cancelling the entire selection process.
- Whether the entire selection process can be declared vitiated after non‑tainted candidates have been segregated.
- Whether termination of services of tainted candidates is constitutionally valid.
- Whether non‑tainted candidates are entitled to reinstatement and seniority.
Legislation cited
Subjects
service lawrecruitmentselection processtainted candidatesvitiated selectionconstitutional lawArticles 14 and 16Prevention of Corruption Actseniorityreinstatement
Judgment
[2014] 6 S.C.R. 383
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. A
v.
. STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS.
(Civil Appeal Nos. 5589-5605 of 2014)
MAY 23, 2014
B
[DR. 8.5. CHAUHAN AND A.K. SIKRI, JJ.]
Service law:
Recruitment -:: Appointment made in Punjab Civil C
Service, Executive Branch and Allied Services Branch as also
judicial appointments - Selection process found to be tainted
and vitiated - Cancellation of the appointments made -
Justification of - Held: Candidates selected with unfair and
illegal means cannot have the audacity to say that they should
be reinstated in service and allowed to continue till their D
appeals are decided - In any case, having found that they
are tainted candidates and their entry into public service was
soiled, decision to terminate their services perfectly justified.
Recruitment - Appointment made in Punjab Civil E
Service, Executive Branch and Allied Services Branch as also
judicial appointments - Entire selection process not found to
be tainted and vitiated - Cancellation of all the appointments
made - Challenge to - Matter remitted to High Court for
consideration afresh - High Court accepting the Committee F
report that entire selection process to be vitiated, dismissed
the writ petitions of tainted and non-tainted candidates
challenging termination ·- As regards non-tainted candidates
it was found that the process of selection itself is a result of
manipulations carried out by a we/I-planned scheme of G
deception, forgery and fraud, thus, selection process
cancelled - Segregation of non-tainted candidates from
tainted candidates - Permissibility of - Held: Once it was
383 H
384 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A accepted that some of the candidates were innocent, who
entered the service by virtue of their merit and _not because
of any extraneous considerations and these candidates
should be segregated from tainted candidates - In order to
work out the equities and to do complete justice, judicial
8 officers found to be untainted to continue in service -
Untainted candidates allowed to join the duties forthwith -
However, the intervening period during which they remained
out of service not be counted for seniority or any other benefit.
- They would be given benefit of service rendered by them
C earlier.
Appointments were made in the Executive Class-I,
Allied Services Branch as also of judicial officers. It is
alleged that the Chairman of Punjab Public Service
Commission took bribe for making the appointments.
D FIRs were· iodged against him. He was prosecuted under
the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Some of the officers of the Executive Branch and Allied
Services of the Punjab Civil Service were also implicated.
Thereafter, services of the direct recruits, Executive
E Class-I and II as also of all the judicial officers, recruited
in the same period were terminated. Aggrieved persons,
belonging to Executive, Allied Services as well as Judicial
Branches, filed writ petitions in the High Court. The Full
Bench of the High Court in *Amarbir Singh & Ors. v. State
F of Punjab & Ors. accepting the submission of the State
Government that it was not possible to segregate the
tainted candidates from untainted ones, confirmed the
action of the State Government terminating the services
of all the officers of PCS Executive Branch and Allied
G Services Branch as well as the judicial officers, since the
selection process was tainted and vitiated, and dismissed
the writ petitions. Aggrieved, officers whose services
were terminated filed appeals. This Court decided the
same in ** lnderpreet Singh Kah/on & Ors. v. State of Punjab.
H The Court holding that the submission of the State
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 385
Government that it was absolutely impossible for it to A
separate the innocent candidates from the tainted ones
cannot be accepted; and the High Court was not right in
applying the principle of 'mass cheating cases', and
remitted the matter to the High Court for consideration
afresh. Thereafter, a Committee of three ~udges of the B
High Court segregated the tainted candidates from the
I
non-tainted candidates selected to the executive post by
the PSC and concluded that the entire processes of
selections to the premier executive post was carried out
by a well-planned scheme of deception, forgery and c
fraud and, therefore, deserved to be set aside in their
entirety. The H!gh Court accepted the report and treating
the entire selection process to be vitiated, dismissed the
writ petitions. Cases of the petitioners found to be tainted
candidates, after the scrutiny by the Committee, were 0
dismissed. However, even in respect of non-tainted
candidates, the High Court hetd that it was permissible
for the Government to cancel the entire selection process,
once it is found that the process of selection itself is a
result of manipulatioqs carried out by a well-planned E
schem.e of deception, forgery and fraud. Hence the·
instant, app'e'als.
.
Partly allowing the appeals, the Court
HELD: 1. The candidates who were selected with F
unfair and illegal means cannot have the audacity to say
that they should be reinstated in service and allowed to
continue till their appeals are decided. In any case, having
found that they are tainted candidates and their entry into
public service was soiled, the decision to terminate their G
services becomes perfectly justified. In respect of these
appellants, the High Court found that FIRs were
registered against them and they definitely carried a trace,
stain or blemish that they were tainted. FIRs were
registered when during investigation the Vigilance H
386 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A Bureau recorded statements of 'S', 'JS' and 'RS' under
Sections 161 and 164 Cr.P.C. The modus operandi of
conducting the manipulations in the written examination
was disclosed by them. The High Court rightly covered
these persons as tainted persons. Therefore, all these
B appeals are dismissed, except the appeal filed by 'RS',
inasmuch as against him no case is registered as he is
ultimately found innocent. [Para 14] [403-A-D, G; ~04-B]
2.1. The submission for the appellants that the
mandate of lnderpreet Singh Kah/on was limited to one
C aspect only, namely, to segregate the cases of tainted
candidates from non-tainted ones, if it was possible; that
after this task was successfully accomplished by the
Committee, there was no occasion to go into the second
aspect, which was not part of any direction of this Court
D in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on; that the findings on two
aspects are self-contradictory; and that once it was
accepted that some of the candidates were innocent, who
entered the service by virtue of their merit and not
because of any extraneous considerations and these
E candidates should be segregated as well, such a finding
to the effect on the second aspect that the entire selection
process was vitiated could not be arrived at, is accepted.
The two conclusions of the High Court appear to be
antithetical. Once it is found that segregating tainted from
F non-tainted is possible and is achieved also, other
conclusion is incompatible with the first one.[Para 24, 25]
[409-G-H; 410-A-D]
2.2. In lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case the appeals
were filed against the Full Bench judgment in Amarbir
G Singh where the Court had held that the action of the
Government in cancelling the entire selection process
was justified. This very conclusion of the Full Bench was
challenged by the appellants in /nderpreet Singh Kah/on
with specific plea that it was not a case for cancelling the
H entire selection process and, in the first instance, the
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 387
Court should have attempted to find out as to whether A
cases of the candidates who were tainted could be
segregated from those who were unblemished. The court
was convinced with the submission. While setting aside
the judgment and remanding the case back, ttie Court
went to the extent of holding that by clubbing together B
tainted as well as non-tainted persons, two unequal
classes were clubbed together and it amounted to
violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
It wai:; also held that no attempt was made in this
direction, namely, whether there was a possibility of c
s~gregating the two classes of persons. The Court found
that as the relevant records were still available a fair
investigation into the whole affair was possible. It
becomes crystal clear that the concern of the Court was
that for the misdeeds of some candidates, honest and D
meritorious candidates should not suffer. Therefore,
endeavour should be made to segregate the tainted
candidates from those who were without any stigma and
had been selected because of their sheer merit and not
on account of any illegal considerations. [Para 26, 28]
[410-E-H; 411-A; 412-F]
E
2.3. The issue of entire selection process having
been vitiated would have arisen only if the findings of the
Committee were that it was not possible to distinguish
the cases of tainted from the non-tainted ones and there F
was a possibility that all of them would have got the
benefit of wrong doings of 'S' and his accomplices.
Fortunately for these appellants, it is not so as they have
been found innocent. The appellants get ensconced,
earning a safe place, once they are removed from the G
category of nefarious persons. Though the tainted
candidates have rightly received their comeuppance, but
the innocent persons cannot be punished with them.
Thus, the fallibilistic conclusion of the High Court cannot
be accepted. [Para 29] [414-F-H; 415-A]
H
388 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A 2.4. The reasons given by the High Court in the
impugned judgment, in support of the conclusion that the
entire process is to be treated as vitiated are the same
which were placed earlier before the High Court by the
Government in Amarbir Singh's case and they were very
8 much before this Court as well when the judgment in
lnderpreet Singh Kah/on was rendered. The reasons
given pertain to the conduct and role of 'S' and his
accomplices who had taken money/bribes from some of
the candidates or had given undue favour to some other
C candidates because of other influences. The material
discussed is the allegations in various FIRs and
statements of 'JS', a confident and tout of 'S' (who had
become approver-in the criminal case), and others
recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 and the cases in the criminal trial.
0
However, even after noticing these very reasons, this
Court had held that those who are innocent cannot be
punished because of the misdeeds of 'S' in showing
favour to other tainted candidates.[Para 30] [415-8-E]
E 2.5. There is another reason to hold that these
persons who have come up clean, meaning thereby, who
have entered the service by passing the examination on
their own merits, should be allowed to continue in the
Government service. The Court had not approved the
F recommendation of the High Court, on the basis of which
the Government had acted, in respect of the judicial
officers whose services were also terminated. It is not
necessary to state in detail the reasons given by the
Court while condemning the action of terminating the
G services of the judicial officers, which was taken in undue
haste. The Court had also remarked that all these judicial
officers were subjected to viva voce/interview test as well,
which was conducted as per Rule 17(a)(iii) of the Punjab
Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970, and
H no breach of the aid Rule had been pointed out. The
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 389
Committee which interviewed these judicial officers A
included a Judge of the High Court as well. The Court
categorically observed that there may be some cases
where marks had been given for extraneous
considerations, but only because there was such a
possibility, the same by itself, without analysing more, B
may not be a ground for arriving at a conclusion that the
entire selection process was vitiated. The direction was
given to consider the entire matter afresh.[Para 31) [415-
F-H; 416-A-C]
C·
2.6. It was a fractured report where two Judges of the
Committee were of the view that entire selection process
was vitiated and one Judge had appended his dissent
thereto on the ground that only those who were found
to be tainted and were segregated by the Committee
0
should be dismissed from service and not the non-
tainted officers. No doubt, while upholding the directions
of the High Court, this Court made it clear that it was not
to be construed as giving seal of approval to the
judgment of the High Court. At the same time, the Court
also stated, in so many words, that in order to work out E
the equities and to do complete justice, that it was proper
to allow those judicial officers to continue in service who
were found to be untainted.[Para 32) [416-F-H]
2.7. In the first instance, it is the State which had F
taken a decision to cancel the entire selection process.
However, after the remand order passed in lnderpreet
Singh Kahlon's case in the exercise done by the
Committ~e screening out the tainted from non-tainted
candidates, the State came forward and showed its G
willingness to take back these candidates who were non-
tainted and were selected on the basis of their merit. A
specific affidavit to this effect was filed in the High Court
as also this Court Once those untainted officers, who
H
390 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A were appointed under the same environment, have been
allowed to continue, there is no reason to deprive this
benefit of such recourse to the PCS (Executive Branch)
and Allied Services. The High Court recorded that 66%
cases were found to be of the persons given
s appointment who were tainted, which influenced the
entire selection process. However, it was placed before
this Court that the said percentage is worked out by
taking the cases of direct recruits and nominated
candidates together. If the figures are separately taken,
c out of 93 direct recruits, 76 have joined and only 10 are
found to be tainted. In fact, the percentage of such tainted
candidates in nominated category was much higher, i.e.·
80%. It was, thus, argued that the cases of direct recruits
cannot be taken along with those in nominated category,
who influenced the decision in their matter as well. This
0
is also a supportive and important fact which goes in
favour of these appellants viz. the non-tainted direct
recruits.[Para 33] [418-C-H]
2.8. The judgment of the High Court is set aside in
E respect of these persons with the direction that the
appellants be allowed to join the duties forthwith.
However, the intervening period during which they
remained out of service shall not be counted for seniority
or any other benefit. However, these persons shall be
F given the benefit of service rendered by them earlier·
when they actually worked, for the purpose of seniority
and future promotion, etc.[Para 34] [419-A-C]
Amarbir Singh & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors., 2003 (5)
G SLR 398 - referred to. lnderpreet Singh Kah/on & Ors. v.
State of Punjab 2006 (1) Suppl. SCR 772: (2006) 11 SCC
356; Sirandip Singh Panag v. State of Punjab 2008 (4) RSJ
288; High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh v.
State of Punjab & Ors. (2010) 11 SCC 684 - referred to.
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 391
Case Law Reference : A
2003 (5) SLR 398 Referred to Para 3, 5,
26, 30
2006 (1) Suppl. SCR 772 Referred to Para 5, 6,
9, 10, 16, B
22, 24,26,
30, 31, 32,
33
200B (4) RSJ 288 Referred to Para 32
c2010) 11 sec 684 Referred to Para 32
c
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal Nos.
5589-5605 of 2014.
From the Judgment and Order dated 31.05.2013 in CWP 0
No. 14429/2002, 13943/2002, 8430/2002, 8440/2002, 8441/
2002' 8442/2002, 8449/2002, 10796/2002, 14358/2002'
19062/2002, 11362/2008, 8558/2002, 8584/2002, 8589/2002,
8431/2002, 8540/2002 and CWP No. 14189/2002 of the High.
Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh. ,t:
WITH
C.A. Nos. 5606, 5608, 5609-5611, 5612, 5613, 5614, 5621,
5622, 5623 and 5624 of 2014.
Raju Ramachandran, Gurminder Singh, Mahabir Singh, F
Ajay Bansal, AAG., Kavita Wadia, Shashank Tripathi, Manoj
Swarup, Akshat Goel, Karan Kapper, Rohit Kumar Singh,
Gurminder Singh Chahal, R.C. Kaushik, S. Uday Kumar Sagar,
Bina Madhavan, Praseena Elizabeth Joseph ( For Lawyer's
Knit & Co.), Aman Arora, Subhasish Bhowmick, Shalu Sharma, G
Rahul Gupta, Kuldip Singh, Gaurav Yadav, Jagjit Singh
Chhabra for the appearing parties.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
A.K. SIKRI, J. 1. One Mr. Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu was H
392 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A the Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (for
short, 'PSC') between 1996-2002. During his tenure as the
Chairman, some appointments were made in the Executive
Class-I between 1998-2061, by way of direct recruit as well
as by nomination, as provided in the Rules. Appointments of
B judicial officers were also made in four batches within the same
period. On getting tip to the effect that for making such
appointments Mr. Sidhu had received bribe from many people,
raids were conducted in his house sometime in the year 2002,
on more than one occasion. A huge sum of money, i.e., Rs. 16
c crores (approximately), was recovered from his custody and
from other relatives of Mr. Sidhu. This led to lodging of the First
Information Reports (FIRs) against him, leading to criminal
prosecution primarily under the provisions of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988. In these Fl Rs, some of the officers of the
Executive Branch and Allied Services of the Punjab Civil
0
Service (for short, 'PCS') were also implicated. Smelling rat in
the appointments in the PCS Executive Branch and Allied
Services Branch, as well as judicial appointments, result sheets
of the nominated candidates and the answer sheets of PCS
Executive Branch and Allied Services Branch were seized. On
E going through the same, Vigilance Bureau of the State of Punjab
informed the Chief Secretary, Punjab that most of the
examinations held during the tenure of Mr. Sidhu were tainted.
This led to spate of actions taken by the State Government. In
the first instance; the services of all officers in the category of
F Nominated Executive Officers, who were about to complete
their period of probation, were terminated on May 23, 2002.
This was done by passing orders of. termination simpliciter
purporting to be in terms of Rules, i.e., by terminating the
probation. Thereafter, vide orders dated August 24, 2002,
G services of the direct recruits, Executive Class-I and II were
terminated by way of dismissal on the premise that crim.inal
prosecution had been launched against Mr. Sidhu. So far as
judicial officers are concerned, the Chief Justice of the High
Court constituted a Committee to go into the allegations and
H also the news items appearing in the media allegirrg that wards
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 393
[A.K. SIKRI, J.)
of some sitting Judges of the F>l.t{ljab and Haryana High Court A
had been favoured by the Chairman of the PSC. The said
• Committee submitted its report recommending cancellation of
all the appointments of the judicial officers who were recruited
in four batches from 1998 till 2002. This report was accepted
· by the Full Court and was sent to the Government. Initially, the 13
Government of Punjab raised a query as to what was the basis
for recommendation of cancellation of appointments of the 1998
batch candidates, as selection of that batch was not in question.
Another Committee was constituted and on the basis of report,
which was approved by the Full Court, recommendation was c
.
reiterated. As a consequence, the services of all these judicial
officers also came to be terminated.
. -
2. All these persons, who services had been terminated,
belonging to Executive, Allied Services as well as Judicial
Branches, challenged these actions by filing writ petitions in the D
High Court. We describe hereinbelow the manner in which the
cases of Executive and Allied Services Branches were dealt
with and the outcome thereof, as in the present case we are
concerned with the officers of PCS Executive Branch and Allied
Services Branch." However, since the judgment rendered by this E
Court in respect of termination of judicial officers has some
bearing on the present case, we shall take note of the outcome
of the cases filed by the judicial officers as well.
3. Insofar as PCS Executive Branch and Allied Services F
Branch are concerned, a large number of writ petitions were
filed by almost all the officers whose services were terminated;
be it direct recruits or nominated officers. The matter was
referred to the Full Bench, having regard to the importance of
the question of law involved. The Full Bench presided by the G
then Chief Justice of the High Court and two senior most
Judges, after hearing these petitions at length, decided those
writ petitions by judgment dated July 07, 2003, which is
reported as Amarbir Singh & Ors. v. State of Punjab & Ors.,
2003 (5) SLR 398. By means of this judgment, the Full Bench
H
394 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A , dismissed all the writ petitions, thereby confirming the action
of the State Government terminating the services of all the
officers of PCS Executive Branch and Allied Services Branch
as well as the judicial officers. As per the High Court, the
decisi~n of the Government to terminate the services was
B because of the reason that the entire selection process in
respect of PCS Executive Branch and Allied Services Branch
was so fainted and vitiated, the Government was left with no
alternative but to declare the entire selection as null and void.
The case set up by the State of Punjab was that during his
c tenure as Chairman of PSC from September 1996 to March
26, 2002, Mr. Sidhu completely usurped the powers of the
Commission unto himself, to the exclusion of all other members,
and manipulated the system for ensuring the selection of thos,e
who had paid money or came with the recommendations. It had
relied upon the statements of Mr. Jagman Singh, a confident
0
and tout of Mr. Sidhu (who had become approver in the criminal 1
case), who disclosed the modus operandi adopted by Mr.
Sidhu. It was pointed out that during the investigation it was
revealed that question papers and answer scripts were
smuggled out of the headquarters of the PSC. At times, blank
E answer sheets were given to the prospective candidates and
special instructions were given to the examiners towards higher
marks to favoured candidates and at the same time less marks
were awarded to more meritorious candidates. By accepting
the bribes to favour such persons, Mr. Sidhu had amassed
F assets worth Rs. 22 crores. It was averred that the entire
selection process was completely vitiated and it was not
possible to separate the meritorious candidates from others
and, therefore, a decision was taken to terminate all the
appointments.
G
4. The High Court, after examining the matter, accepted
the aforesaid argument of the State Government to the effect
that it was not possible to segregate the tainted candidates
from untainted ones, leaving no option for the State Government
H but to cancel the entire selection process. Few judgments of
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 395
[A.K. SIKRI, J.] ·
this Court were relied upon to hold that in such circumstances, A
when the ~election process is found to be vitiated, the
Administration had a right to cancel the selection process and
while doing so it was not necessary to adhere to the principles
of natural justice, which had no role to play in matters like these.
B
5. Aggrieved ·by the aforesaid judgment in Amarbir
Singh's case (supra), all these officers whose services were
terminated approached this Court. Special leave was granted
in all these petitions and civil appeals were heard and decided
by this Court, with lead case known as lnderpreet Singh c
Kah/on & Ors. v. State of Punjab, (2006) 11 SCC 356. Since
this judgment is sheet anchor of the appellants before us, in the
second round of litigation, we would like to take note of this
judgment in some detail.
6. It can be easily guessed, as it is so obvious, that the D
case of the appellants in lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case
(supra) was that the action of the State Government and the
stamp of approval of the High Court in cancelling the entire
selection process was impermissible. The appellants therein
had argued that there was no basis for such a finding, namely, E
the entire selection process had been vitiated and it was
necessary for the Government to separate cases of tainted
persons from non-tainted ones and to take action against only
those who were tainted. It was argued that by not undertaking
such an exercise and clubbing together tainted as well as non- F
tainted persons, two unequal classes were clubbed together
thereby meting. out discriminatory treatment qua those who were
without· blemish and it amounted to violation of Articles 14 and
16 of the Constitution of India. The appellants in the said case
had also argued that while holding that entire selection process G
was vitiated by corruption and cancelling the same after
appointees had put in few years of service, the High Court had
applied the principle of 'mass cheating cases', which principle
was applicable only in the cases of examination in academic
institutions and not the examination for the purpose of public H
396 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A employment. Pertinently, this Court generally accepted the
aforesaid submissions of the appellants. From the reading of
the judgment, one can discern the following principles:
(a) An appointment made in violation of Articles 14 and
B 16 of the Constitution of India would be void. It would be a nullity.
Since the services of the appellants were terminated not in
terms of the rules but in view of the commission of illegality in
the selection process involved, the applicability of the relevant
provisions of the statutes as also the effect of the provisions of
Article 311 of the Constitution need not be considered.
c
(b) Before a finding that an appointment has been made
in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution can be
·arrived at, the appointing authority must take into consideration
the foundational facts. Only when such foundational facts are
D established, can the legal principles be applied. When the
services of employees are terminated inter alia on the ground
that they might have aided and abetted corruption and, thus,
either for the sake of probity in governance or in public interest
their services should be terminated, the court must satisfy itself
E that conditions therefor exist. The court while setting aside a
selection may require the State to establish that the process
was so tainted that the entire selection process is liable to be
cancelled. In a case of this nature. thus. the question which
requires serious consideration is as to whether due to the
F misdeed of some candidates, honest and meritorious
candidates should also suffer.
(c) A distinction exists between a proven case of mass
cheating for a board examination and an unproven imputed
charge of corruption where the appointment of a civil servant
G is involved. Only in the event it i.s found to be impossible or
highly improbable that the tainted cases can be1separated from
the non-tainted cases could en masse orders o\ termination be
issued. Both the State Government as also th~ High Court in
that view of the matter should haMe made all endeavours to
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 397
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
segregate the tainted from the non-tainted candidates. A
(d) Cases which may arise where the selection process
is perceived to be tainted may be categorised in the following
manner:
(i) Cases where the "event" has been inves~gated. B
(ii) Cases where CBI inquiry took place and was
completed or a preliminary investigation was
concluded.
(iii) Cases where the selection was made but
c
appointment was not made.
(iv) Cases where the candidates were also. ineligible
and the appointments were found to be contrary to
law or rules. D
If the services of appointees who had put in a few years
of service were terminated, compliance with three principles at
the hands of the State was imperative viz.: (1) to establish
satisfaction in regard to the sufficiency of the materials collected E
so as to enable the State to arrive at its satisfaction that the
selection process was tainted; (2) to determine the question
that the illegalities committed went to the root of the matter,
which vitiated the entire selection process. Such satisfaction
as also the sufficiency of materials were required to be
F
gathered by reason of a thorough investigation in a fair and
transparent manner; (3) whether the sufficient material present
enabled the State to arrive at a satisfaction that the officers in
majority had been found to be part of the fraudulent purpose
or the system itself was corrupt.
(e) Once the necessary factual findings as enumerated
above are arrived at, or it is found impossible or highly
improbable to separate tainted from untainted cases, all
appointments traceable to the officers concerned could be
cancelled. But admittedly, in the present case, although there H
398 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A had been serious imputations against Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu
being at the helm of the affairs of the State Public Service
C0mmission, all decisio.ns made by the Commission during his
tenure are yet to be set aside.
7. Applying these principles to the facts of the case, the
8
Court found that no candidate for the year 2001 had been
appointed and, therefore, persons who were selected in that
year were on a different footing as merely a person comes in
the selected list, he has no right to be appointed on that ground.
However, held the Court, those who had already been
C appointed and had completed about three years of service,
some of them had even passed departmental test and some
were given higher responsibilities and had even completed the
period of probation or nearing the completion thereof and were
working to the satisfaction of the authorities cqncerned,
D different yardsticks were to be applied while terminating their
services. As a matter of fact. the Court found that apart from
inferences drawn on certain facts and in particular the
circumstances enumerated by the High Court, it was difficult to
accept the contention of the State Government that it was
E absolutely impossible for it to separate the innocent candidates
from the tainted ones. In the opinion of the Court, by appointing
an independent scrutiny committee it was still possible to sift
the evidence and separate tainted candidates from the innocent
ones. The Court also recorded that relevant records were still
F available and had not been destroyed, which included question
papers, answer sheets and other documents. Since these
records were still available, a fair investigation into the whole
affair was still possible. Such an exercise was, therefore,
needed when it had not been found that all the appointments
G were made on extraneous considerations, including monetary
consideration. It was, thus, held. that the High Court was not right
in applying the principle of 'mass cheating cases' in the instant
case. The Court concluded the matter in the following manner:
(a) If services of appointees who had put in a few years of
H
.JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 399
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
service are to be terminated, compliance with following A
principles by State is imperative: (1) sufficient materials are to
be collected, to be gathered by thorough investigation in fair
and transparent manner; (2) illegalities committed must go to
the root of the matter, vitiating entire selection process; and (3)
the appointees/officers in majority must be found to be part of B
the fraudulent purpose or the system itself must be found to be
corrupt.
(b) In the present case, above principles not having been
adhered to and since it could not be said that a fair investigation
into the suspected selection process to the Punjab PCS for the C
years 1998-2001 was an impossible task, or despite availability
of a large part of the records a thorough investigation.had been
made so as to arrive at a satisfaction that the entire selection
process suffered from a large-scale fraud, High Court was not
right in applying the principle of mass cheating cases in the D
instant case and approve the en masse terminatign of services
of the appellants by the State.
(c) Impugned orders of State Government and High Court
were set aside. Matters were remitted to High Court for E
consideration afresh, status quo to be maintained in the
meantime. High Court was directed to constitute two
independent Scrutiny Committees, one relating to the executive
officers and the other to the judicial officers. Various directions
were given for functioning of said Committees and expeditious F
disposal of the matters, and State was directed to file report in
this Court in each individual case. It was further directed to
unearth the scam and spare no officer involved in wrongdoing,
howsoever high he may be.
8. Dealing with the case of judicial officers whose services G
were terminated, the Court took the view that they had not been
fairly treated by the High Court and deserved better treatment.
In their cases also the Court directed fresh inquiry. That aspect
we would discuss in detail at the appropriate stage as in the
H
400 SUPREME COURT REPORlS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A present case we are not concerned with the cases of judicial
officers.
9. After the judgment in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on's case
(supra), a Committee of three Judges of the High Court was
constituted with the specified task to separate the tainted
8 candidates from the non-tainted candidates selected to the
executive post by the PSC. The said Committee undertook the
mammoth and painstaking task with deep scrutiny of the case
of each and every candidate. This Committee submitted its
report dated February 08, 2007. It is pertinent to note that the
C Committee could achieve the task of segregating tainted
candidates from the innocent ones, meaning thereby the
Committee could pinpoint those candidates who had got
selected were selected for oblique considerations_,At meant that
others against whom no such taint was fotind had been
D selected on their own merit and performance in the' written
examination as well as viva voce. That is the reason that these
candidates were put in non-tainted category. However, even
when the Committee was able to achieve this result, as
mandated by this Court in lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case
E (supra), the Committee also went into another aspect, namely,
whether it could be stated that the process of selection could
be described as fraudulent, tainted and arbitrary. Looking into
the matter from this angle, the Committee came to the
conclusion that the entire processes of selections to the premier
F executive post was carried out by a well-planned scheme of
deception, forgery and fraud and, therefore, deserved to be set
qside in their entirety. The final analysis of the report dated
February 08, 2007 is as under:
"Firstly, it is possible to infer that in the processes of
G selection to which the present investigation is limited, there
were 40 tainted candidates. This inference would,
however, be .subject to an opportunity to be afforded to
them during the course of re-hearing of the matter on the
judicial side, in terms of the direction of the Apex Court in
1-J lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case (supra).
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 401
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
Secondly, the process of selection under reference (within A
the ambit of investigation of the Vigilance Department), can
be described as fraadulent, tainted and arbitrary. The said
processes of selection were clearly rifle and abounding
with manipulations, carried out by a well planned scheme
of deception, forgery and fraud; executed for showing B
favour, or for consideration. And as such, the entire
processes of selection, to the premier executive posts,
which were subject matter of investigation at the hands of
the Vigilance Department, deserve to be set aside in their
entirety."
10. In the light of this report, the original writ petitions were
reheard, as a result of remand of these cases to the High Court,
as directed in lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case (supra). Matter
was referred to the five Judge Bench of the High Court. The
High Court has accepted the report thereby giving its approval D
to that part of the report as well which has treated the entire
selection process to be vitiated. As a result, all the writ petitions
are dismissed again vide judgment of the Full Bench rendered
on May 31, 2013.
E
11. Insofar as those cases wehre the petitioners were
found to be tainted candidates, after the scrutiny by the
Committee, the obvious result was that the writ petitions were
dismissed on this ground. However, even in respect of non-
tainted candidates, the High Court has held that it was
permissible for the Government to cancel the entire selection F
process, once it is found that the process of selection itself is
a result of manipulations carried out by a well-planned scheme
of deception, forgery and fraud.
12. We will proceed to discuss the cases of tainted and G
non-tainted candidates seperately.
TAINTED CANDIDATES
13. The particulars of candidates who are facing criminal
trial are as under: H
402 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A s. Case No. Name Remarks
No
1. CA Nos. 5606-5608/2014 Jiwan Kumar PCS (EB)
Garg Kamal Direct
B Kumar
.
2. CA No. 5622/2014 P.S. Sodhi PCS
Nominated
3. CA Nos. 5614-562112014 O.P. Verma
c lnderdeei;i
Kahl on
Jasbir Singh
Toor
H.L. Bansal PCS
D Parvinderpal Nominated
Singh
Jarnail Singh
Balraj Kaur
Rajinder
E Sidhu
4. CA No. 5623/2013 Bhupinderjit PCS
Singh Nominated
14. As far as these cases are concerned, they hardly pose
F any challenge. As it is specifically found that the aforesaid
persons have indulged in unfair means and have been selected
either by paying bribe or because of other extraneous reasons
and not on their merit, their writ petitions have been rightly
dismissed by the High Court. It was argued by Mr. Manoj
G Swarup, learned counsel appearing for these appellants, that
those who are facing trial may be acquitted after investigation.
Likewise, some of those who are even convicted, their appeals
are pending and there is a possibility that their appeals are
allowed thereby setting aside the conviction. Therefore, such
a decision to terminate their services could not have been taken
H
at this stage.
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 403
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
This argument is totally unimpressive and does not hold
A
any water. Such candidates who were selected with unfair and
illegal means cannot have the audacity to say that they should
be reinstated in service and allowed to continue till their appeals
are decided. In any case, having found that they are tainted
candidates and their entry into public service was soiled, the B
decision to terminate their services becomes perfectly justified.
In respect of these appellants, the High Court has found that
FIRs have been registered against them and they definitely
carry a trace, stain or blemish that they were tainted. Fl Rs were
registered when during investigation the Vigilance Bureau c
recorded statements of Mr. Sudhu, Jagman Singh and Randhir
Singh Gill under Sections 161 and 164 Cr.P .C. The modus
operandi of conducting the manipulations in the written
examination was disclosed by them. Question papers were
given to Mr. Jagman Singh to be shown to the candidates who D
were to appear in the written examination conducted by the
PSC. The same were to be collected from the official residence
of Mr. Sidhu, i.e. House No. 914, Sector-39, Chandigarh, and
some times to be collected from Mrs. Pritpal Kaur, the mother
of Mr. Sidhu from House No. 549, Sector-10, Chandigarh. E
Candidates were then shown these question papers during the
night preceding the examination at the residence of Mr. Jagman
Singh. The above procedure was also followed at the residence
of the mother of Mr. Sidhu. Mr. Jagman Singh was deputed to
the residences of influential persons for showing the question
F
papers to the concerned candidates.
In this backdrop, the High Court rightly covered these
persons as tainted person~. ascribing following meaning to the
expression 'taint':
G
"The word 'taint' as per the New Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary (Vol.-11) can be expressed to mean a trace,
'stain' or a 'blemish'. It denotes some evil quality, a
contaminating or corrupting influence. It can lead to mean
an imbue with any thing objectionable or to contaminate
H
404 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014) 6 S.C.R.
A or infect. The- word 'taint' when used as a verb means
dishonest, destroy integrity, vitiate, tarnish and degenerate
morally."
Therefore, all these appeals are dismissed, except Civil
8 Appeal No. 5606 of 2014 filed by one Randeep Singh,
inasmuch as against him no case is registered as he is
ultimately found innocent. We shall deal with his case along with
non-tainted candidates.
NON-TAINTED CANDIDATES/DIRECT RECRUITMENT
c
15. The p·articular of those appellants who fall in this
category of non-tainted candidates are as under:
s. Case No. Name Remarks
No.
D
Joginder Pal
Balkaran Singh
Shishpat
1. CA No. 5589/2014 Mandeep Singh Tehsildar
E Baljinder Singh
Gurdev Singh
Ramesh Kumar
2. CA No. 5590/2014 Sarabjot Singh Sidhu ETO
F 3. CA No. 5591/2014 Harcharan Singh PCS (EB) .
4. CA No. 5592/2014 Amarjit Singh PCS. (EB)
5. CA No. 5593/2014 Gurjit Singh PCS (EB)
G 6. CA No. 5594/2014 Jagjit Singh PCS (EB)
7. CA No. 5595/2014 Anita Darshi PCS (EB)
8. CA No. 5596/2014 Jaspal Singh Gill PCS (EB)
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 405
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
9. CA No. 5597/2014 Rajan Sharma A
Prabhjot Singh EO
Dilbagh Singh
1o. CA No. 5598/2014 Balwinder Singh AR
B
11. CA No. 5599/2014 Raj Singh DFSO
12. CA No. 5600/2014 Rupinder Pal Singh PCS (EB)
13. CA No. 5601/2014 Monish Kumar PCS (EB)
14. CA No. 5602/2014 Rajesh Dhiman
c
Harsuhinder Pal PCS-
- Singh (EB)
15. CA No. 5603/2014 Paramjit Singh PCS (EB)
D
16. CA No. 5604/2014 sririnder Kaur PCS (EB)
17. CA No. 5605/2014 Manpreet Kaur ETO
18. CA No. 5612/2014· Rubinderjit Singh PCS (EB)
Brar E
19. CA No. 5613/2014 Sukhpreet Singh PCS
Sidhu (EB)
20. CA No. 5609- Amit Talwar PCS (EB)
5611/2014 Rajdeep Brar PCS (EB)
F
Gaurav Duggal AR
Ramandeep Pandher AR
--
21 CA No. 5624/2014 Bikramjit Shergill PCS (EB)
G
Before discussing these cases, we would like to have a
peek into the Report of the Committee dated February 08,
2007, which is placed on record.
H
406 SUPREME COURT REPORTS · [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE DATED FEBRUARY 08,
2007
16. The report starts with noticing the directives of this
Court in /nderpreet Singh Kahlon's case (supra). It specifically
mentions that to implement the directions contained in the said
8 judgment, the then Acting Chief Justice had constituted a
Committee of three Judges "to submit a reporl, on the basis
of investigations carried out by officers of the State
Government, so as to separate the tainted candidates from
the non-tainted candidates, selected to executive posts by the
C Punjab Pub/~ Service Commission, during the Chairmanship
of Shri Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu". Thus, the Committee knew
the scope of exercise which it was to carry out, namely, to
separate the tainted candidates from the non-tainted
candidates. This aspect is thereafter gone into in detail with in-
D depth scrutiny and analysis of the records and material placed
before it, which not only pertained to the selection process, i.e.
question and answer sheets, etc., but also records which
surfaced during investigation into the FIRs filed against Mr.
Sidhu and other persons, including some of those who were
E the selected candidates. No doubt, it was a mammoth task and
it goes to the credit of the Committee that it could successfully
achieve the same. After detailed and thorough analysis of all
cases individually, the Committee was able to separate grain
from the chaff, notwithstanding some 'handicaps which came
F its way and are specifically pointed out in the Report.
17. The following observations, after noticing and
examining each case individually and separately, need a
reproduction as it depicts the state of mental and physical
exercise carried out by the Committee:
G
"8. Having narrated and summarized the factual sequence
emerging from the investigation carried out by the officers
of the Vigilance Department, the next step is to record
conclusions. Before attempting to record our conclusions,
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 407
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
A
we have considered it appropriate to deal with. (sic) The
veracity of the statements of Shri Jagman Singh son of Shri
Autar Sjngh Sekhon, and Shri Randhir Singh Gill son of
Shri Kirpal Singh as their statements are likely to have a
strong bearing on the eventual outcome of the task
entrusted to us. Accordingly, we have examined the B
veracity of their statements in sub-paragraph (A),
hereunder. In this paragraph, it is also necessary to
examine the handicaps, which confronted the Investigating
Agency during the course of its deliberation. The
Committee on several occasions felt that on some aspects, c
further material should have been collected during the
course of investigation. These handicaps have been
summarized in sub-paragraph (B) hereunder. In rendering
our conclusions, based on the investigation process
carried on by the Vigilance Department of the State D
Government we have in sub-paragraph (C), hereunder,
carried out the task of identifying the tainted candidates
i.e. the candidates who, according to the Investigating
Agency, are shown to have managed and manipulated
their recommendations at the hands of the Punjab Public E
Service Commission, for reasons other than, or in addition
to their own merit. In sub-paragraph (D), we have recorded
our conclusions in terms of the parameters expressed in
lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case (supra) i.e.: whether or not
it is possible to separately identify the tainted candidates F
from the untainted candidates, and if not, whether there is
sufficient material gathered by the Investigating Agency to
conclude, that the entire process of selection was bad, as
sucht deserved to be set aside in terms of the parameters
laid down in lnderpreet Singh Kahlon's case (supra)."
G
18. Further discussion ensued on the aforesaid
parameters and in para 8(C) appears the list of 40 persons
who, as per the investigation carried out by the Vigilance
Department and the compilation made by the Committee,
ensured their selection by way of manipulation. Out of these who H
408 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014) 6 S.C.R.
A have approached this Court, their cases have al~eady been
dealt with in the first category resulting in the dismissal of their
appeals. The Committee, thus, found that others, namely, the
appellants herein, were not tainted. It thereafter proceeded
further to deal with another aspect, namely, whether the errtire
s selection process could be said to be vitiated.
19. The Committee has recorded its reasons for the
aforesaid answer/conclusion and concluded at the end that the
processes of selection were clearly rife and abounding with
manipulations, carried out by a well-planned scheme Qf
C deception, forgery and fraud; executed for showing ·favour or
for consideration. As such, the Committee opined that the entire
processes of selection deserved to be set aside in their
entirety.
D IMPUGNED JUDGMENT
20. After taking note ofthe seminal facts relating to the
raids on Mr. Sidhu, the judgment discusses the importance of
PSCs, their role and their duties, responsibilities as well as
E expectation of a common man who is, as per the Preamble to
the Constitution of India, entitled to equality of status and
opportunities. Thereafter, it poses three questions which
needed consideration by the Court as under:
"(1) Whether 23 selected candidates who are facing
F criminal trial can be described to be tainted:?
(2) Whether the selection of other candidates who are not
facing criminal trial can be described to be vitiated, in vi.ew
of the detailed investigation carried out by Punjab
G Vigilance Bureau?
(3) Whether the State Government was fair in giving
chance of second examination in 2003 to all the
candidates?"
H Insofar as the first question is concerned, we have already
· JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 409
[AK. SIKRI, J.]
dealt with and discussed the same while dealing with the first A
category of cases. It is the second question which concerns this
Court at this juncture.
21. After taking note of and discussing various judgments
where ·the Court upheld the action of the Government in B
cancelling the selection process when found to be vitiated on
account of not follo~ing the procedure of selection, smacks of
ma/a tides and malpractices, the Full Bench held that here also
the entire process suffered from manipulations and was to be
treated as vitiated.
c
OUR CONCLUSION AND REASONS IN SUPPORT
22. From the Report of the Committee dated February 08,
2007, constituted on the directions of this Court in the case of
lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra), which has been accepted by 0
the High Court, it is apparent that the Committee has n.ot found
anything against these 21 persons, in respect of whom we are
deliberating on the issue involved. At the same time, on going
through the process, the Committee was of the view that the
selection process was vitiated and, therefore, the result E
warranted to be cancelled in its entirety, including that of these
non-tainted persons as well.
23. The question that falls for consideration is as to
whether the entire process could be labelled as vitiated
because of purported manipulations, forgery and fraud? Or, to F
put it otherwise, once the non-tainted persons are segregated
from tainted ones, would it still be justified to quash the entire
selection, even when non-tainted made into the service
because of their merit?
G
24. It was argued by Mr. Raju Ramachandran and Mr.
Gurminder Singh, learned senior counsel appearing for the
appellants, that the mandate of lnderpreet Singh Kah/on
(supra) was limited to one aspect only, namely, to segregate
the cases of tainted candidates from non-tainted ones, if it was H
410 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A possible. It was their submission that after this task was
successfully accomplished by the Committee, there was no
occasion to go into the second aspect, which was not part of
any direction of this Court in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra).
It was further argued that the findings on two aspects are self-
s contradictory. Once it was accepted that some of the
candidates were innocent, who entered the service by virtue of
their merit and not because of any extraneous considerations
and these candidates should be segregated as well, such a
finding to the effect on the second aspect that the entire
c selection process was vitiated could not be arrived at.
25. We find force in the aforesaid argument advanced by
the learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant in these
set of appeals.The two conclusions of the High Court appear
to be antithetical. Once it is found that segregating tainted from
D non-tainted is possible and is achieved also, other conclusion
is incompatible with the first one.
26. We have already narrated the background in which
judgment in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra) was rendered by
E this Court. Those were the appeals filed against the Full Bench
judgment in Amarbir Singh (supra) where the Court had held
that the action of the Government in cancelling the entire
selection process was justified. This very conclusion of the Full
Bench was challenged by the appellants in lnderpreet Singh
F Kah/on (supra) with specific plea that it was not a case for
cancelling the entire selection process and, in the first instance,
the Court should have attempted to find out as to whether cases
of the candidates who were tainted could be segregated from
those who were unblemishe<f. The court was convinced with the
G submission. While setting aside the judgment and remanding
the case back, the Court went to the extent of holding that by
clubbing together tainted as well as non-tainted persons, two
unequal classes were clubbed together and it amounted to
violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. It was
also held that no attempt was made in this direction, namely,
H whether there was a possibility of segregating the two classes
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 411
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
of persons. The Court found that as the relevant records were A
still available a fair investigation into the whole affair was
possible. We would like to reproduce hereunder some portions
of the judgment of S.B. Sinha, J. in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on
(supra) touching upon this aspect:
B
"43. Apart from inferences drawn on certain facts and in
particular the circumstances enumerated by the High Court
which have been repeated by the learned counsel for the
State before us, it is difficult to accept that it.was
demonstrated by the State that it was absolutely ' ..... '
impossible for it to separate the innocent people from the c
tainted ones.
xx xx xx
45. If fraud in the selection process was established, the D
State should not have offered to hold a reselection .
. Seniority of those who were reselected ordinarily could ntit
have been restored in their favour. Sueh an offer w~s ,
evidently made as the State was not sure about the
involvement of a large number of employees.
E
46. A distinction moreover exists between a proven case
of mass cheating for a board examination and an
unproven imputed charge of corruption where the
appointment of a civil servant is involved.
F
xx xx xx
50. In those cases also tainted cases were s.eparated from
the non-tainted cases. Only, thus, in the event it is found
to be impossible or highly improbable, qould en masse G
orders of termination have been issued. ···
51. Both the State Government as also the High Court in
that view of the matter should have made afl endeavours
to segregate the tainted from the non-tainted candidates.
H
412 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2014) 6 S.C.R.
A )()( xx )()(
59. In a case of this nature, thus, the question which
requires serious consideration is as to whether due to the
misdeed of some candidates, honest and meritorious
candidates should also suffer."
B
27. After noticing the aforesaid features, the directions
which are given for setting up of the Committee to go into the
issue are contained in para 94, which reads as under:
c "94. The impugned judgment as also the orders of the
State Government and the High Court are, thus, liable to
be set aside and directions are issued. Although the
impugned judgments cannot be sustained, we are of the
opinion that the interest of justice would be subserved if
D the matters are remitted to the High Court for consideration
of the mattes afresh. However, with a view to segregate
the tainted from the non-tainted, and that in the interest of
justice the High Court should be requested to constitute
two independent Scrutiny Committees - one relating to the
executive officers and tlie other relating to the judicial
E
officers."
28. It becomes crystal clear that the concern of the Court
was that for the misdeeds of some candidates, honest and
meritorious candidates should not suffer. Therefore, endeavour
F should be made to segregate the tainted candidates from
those who were without any stigma and had been selected
because of their sheer merit and not on account of any illegal
considerations. We would also like to reproduce some of the
parts of the concurring judgment authored by Justice Dalveer
G ~handari (as His Lordship then was) with the aforesaid
message, eloquently and impeccably:
"118. Undoubtedly, in the selection process, there have
been manipulations and irregularities at the behest of R.S.
Sidhu, the ~hen Chairman, Punjab Public Service
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 413
[A.K. SIKR!, J.]
Commission. On careful scrutiny of the facts and A
circumstances of the case, in my considered opinion, the
High Court ought to have made a serious endeavour to
segregate the tainted from the non-tainted candidates.
Though the task was certainly difficult, but by no stretch of
imagination, it was not an impossible task. B
xx xx xx
124. The High Court has not considered the case in the
proper perspective. The consequences of en masse
cancellation would carry a big stigma particularly on c
cancellation of the selections which took place because
of serious charges of corruption. The question arises
whether for the misdeeds of some candidates, honest and
good candidates should also suffer on en masse
cancellation leading to termination of their services? D
Should those honest candidates be compelled to suffer
without there being any fault on their part just because the
respondents find it difficult to segregate the cases of
tainted candidates from the other candidates? The task
may be difficult for the respondents, but in my considered E
view, in the interest of all concerned and particularly in the
interest of honest candidates, the State must undertake this
task. The unscrupulous candidates should not be allowed
to damage the entire system in such a manner where
innocent people also suffer great ignominy and stigma. F
125. This Court had an occasion to examine a similar
controversy in the case of Onkar Lal Bajaj's case (supra).
In that case, there were serious allegations of political
patronage in allotment of retail outlets of petroleum
products, (LPG distributorships and SKO-LDO G
dealerships). This Court laid down that how could a large
number of candidates against whom there was not even
insinuation be clubbed with. handful of those who were said
to have been allotted dealerships/distributorships on
account of political connection and patronage? This Court H
414 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R. \
A clearly stated that the two were clearly unequals. Equal
treatment to unequals is nothing but inequality. This is the·
most important principle which has been laid down in this
case by this Court. The Court further observed that to put
both the categories, tainted and the rest, on par is wholly
B unjustified, arbitrary and unconstitutional, being violative of
Article 14 of the Constitution. In somewhat similar
circumstances, in this case, the G@vernment, instead of·
discharging its obligation, unjustly resorted to the
cancellation of all the allotments en masse by treating
c unequals as equals without even prima facie examining
their cases. Those officers whose services were affected·
because of en masse cancellation have not been given an
opportunity to represent before the concerned authorities.
In the case of Onkar Lal Bajaj there were 413 cases and
the task was indeed difficult to segregate the cases of
D
political connection and patronage with other cases. But,
even then, this Court while, setting aside the order of the
Government cancelling the allotment, appointed a
Committee of two retired Judges, one of this Court and
another from the Delhi High Court, and they were
E
requested to examine all 413 cases and decide the matter
after getting the report from that Committee appointed by
the Court."
29. In vieV'.'. of the above, the issue of entire selection
F process having been vitiated would have arisen only if the
findings of the Committee were that it was not possible to
distinguish the cases of tainted from the non-tainted ones and
there was a possibility that all of them would have got the benefit
of wrong doings of Mr. Sidhu and his accomplices. Fortunately
G for these appellants, it is not so as they have been found
innocent. The appellants get ensconced, earning a safe place,
once they are removed from the category of nefarious persons.
Though the tainted candidates have rightly received their
comeuppance, but the innocent persons cannot be punished
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 415
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
with them. Thus, it is difficult to accept the fallibilistic conclusion A
of the High Court.
30. We have also gone through the reasons given by the
High Court in the impugned judgment, in support of the
conclusion that the entire process is to be treated as vitiated. B
We find that reasons are the same which were placed earlier
before the High Court by the Government in Amarbir Singh's
case (supra) and they were very much before this Court as well
when the judgment in lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra) was
rendered. Without alluding to them in detail, we may say in C
nutshell that the reasons given pertain to the conduct and role
of Mr. Sidhu and his accomplices who had taken money/bribes
from some of the candidates or had given undue favour to
some other candidates because of other influences. The
material discussed is the allegations in various FIRs and
statements of Mr. Jagman Singh, a confident and tout of Mr. D
Sidhu (who had become approver in the criminal case), and
others recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 and the cases in the criminal trial. However,
even after noticing these very reasons, this Court had held that
those who are innocent cannot be punished because of the E
misdeeds of Mr. Sidhu in showing favour to other tainted
candidates.
31. There is yet another reason to hold that these persons
. who have come up clean, meaning thereby, who have entered F
the service by passing the examination on their own merits,
should be allowed to continue in the Government service. We
·have already mentioned in the earlier part of the judgment,
while discussing the case of lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra),
that the Court had not approved the recommendation of the G
High Court, on the basis of which the Government had acted,
in respect of the judicial officers whose services were also
terminated. It is not necessary to state in detail the reasons
given by the Court while condemning the action of terminating
the services of the judicial officers, which was taken in undue
H
416 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A haste. The Court had also remarked that all these judicial
officers were subjected to viva voce/interview test as well, which
was conducted as per Rule 17(a)(iii) of the Punjab Civil
Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970, and no breach
of the aid Rule had been pointed out. The Committee which
B interviewed these judicial officers included a Judge of the High
Court as well. The Court categorically observed that there may
be some cases where marks had been given for extraneous
considerations, but only because there was such a possibility,
the same by itself, without analysing more, may not be a ground
c for arriving at a conclusion that the entire selection process was
vitiated. The direction was, accordingly, given to consider the
entire matter afresh.
32. After remand the Writ petitions of these judicial officers
were decided by the High Court in the case titled as Sirandip
D Singh Panag v. State of Punjab, 2008 (4) RSJ 288. The High
Court had ·allowed those petitions. The said judgment of the
High Court was challenged before this' Court in the matter of
High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh v. State of
Punjab & Ors., (2010) 11 sec 684. This Court, by means of
E the aforesaid judgment, upheld the decision of the High Court.
The Court specifically noted that after the _directions in
lnderpreet Singh Kah/on (supra), a Committee of three Judges
was constituted which undertook this exercise and submitted
its report. It was a fractured report where two learned Judges
F of the Committee were of the view that entire selection process
was vitiated and one Judge had appended his dissent thereto
on the ground that only those who were found to be tainted and
were segregated by the Committee should be dismissed from
service and not the non-tainted officers. No doubt, while
G upholding the directions of the High Court, this Court made it
clear that it was not to be construed as giving seal of approval
to the judgment of the High Court. At the same time, the Court
also stated, in so many words, that in order to work out the
equities and to do complete justice, that it was proper to allow
H those judicial officers to continue in service who were found to
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 417
[AK. SIKRI, J.]
be untainted. It would be apposite to quote the following portion A
of the said judgment in this behalf:
"26. It is not in dispute any more that the candidates were
given fresh opportunity to appear for selection for the
aforesaid post in the exams exclusively held for them in B
the year 2004. Out of 57 such candidates, 20 candidates
were reslected and they were given benefit of original
appointment. As many of these candidates are the
respondents and have wor.ked as judicial officers for some
period and it has also not been proved or established C
completely against them that they had indulged in
malpractice in examinations, we are of the view that they
should also be given reappointment and posting orders to
the existing vacancies in the State of Punjab and if no
vacancy exists, Mr. Sharan has assured the court that the
State will create supernumei;ary posts for them but they D
would not be entitled to get all the benefits as have been
granted to them vide the impugned judgment.
27. However, it should n0t be construed that our judgment
is giving seal of approval to the judgment of the Full Bench E
of the Punjab and Haryana High Court but with an intention
to work out the equities and to do complete justice
between the parties and in view of the earlier judgment of
his Court in Kah/on case that tainted candidates be
separated from untainted, meaning thereby that this Court F
did not accept the submissio~ that it was not practically
possible to do so; and further this Court had taken note of
reselection held in 2004 in para 92 of the judgment, but
held that the effect thereof would be subject to this case,
this is the only via media, through which the respondents G
could also be granted relief as it could not be established
that even otherwise, they would have been declared as
unsuccessful candidates. Precisely, that is the reason we
have moulded the reliefs granted to the respondents by the
High Court as our order is not likely to affect seniority of H
418 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2014] 6 S.C.R.
A any of the judicial officers, who had already been working
prior to the respondents. We are conscious of the fact that
by this procedure, there is no likelihood of any offshoots
of the said order and hopefully the whole controversy
triggered in the year 1998, would stand settled for all times
B to come."
33. There is yet another crucial development which needs
to be mentioned here. In the first instance, it is the State which
had taken a decision to cancel the entire selection process.
However, after the remand order passed in lnderpreet Singh
C Kahlon's case (supra), in the exercise done by the Committee
screening out the tainted from non-tainted candidates, the State
came forward and showed its willingness to take back these
candidates who were non-tainted and were selected on the.
basis of their merit. A specific affidavit to this effect was filed
D in the High Court. To the same effect the affidavit has been filed
before us also. We are of the opinion that once those untainted
officers, who were appointed under the same environment, have
been allowed to continue, there is no reason to deprive this
benefit of such recourse to the PCS (Executive Branch) and
E Allied Services. We may note that the High Court has recorded
in the impugned judgment that 66% cases were found to be of
the persons given appointment who were tainted, which
influenced the entire selection process. However, during the
course of arguments, it was placed before us that the aforesaid
F percentage is worked out by taking the cases of direct recruits
and nominated candidates together. If the figures are separately
taken, out of 93 direct recruits, 76 have joined and only 10 are
found to be tainted. In fact, the percentage of such tainted
candidates in nominated category was much higher, i.e. 80%.
G It was, thus, argued that the cases of direct recruits cannot be
taken along with those in nominated category, who influenced
the decision in their matter as well. This is also a supportive
and important fact which goes in favour of these appellants viz.
the non-tainted direct recruits.
H
JOGINDER PAL & ORS. ETC. v. STATE OF PUNJAB 419
[A.K. SIKRI, J.]
. 34. The aforesaid discursive exercise prompt us to set Aj
aside the judgment of the High Court in respect of these
persons with the direction that the appellants be.allowed to join
the duties forthwith. It is, however, made clear that the
intervening period during which they remained out of service
shall not count for seniority or any other benefit. However, these B
persons shall be given the benefit of service rendered by them
earlier viz. from September 1999 till May 22, 2002, when they
actually worked, for the purpose of seniority and future
promotion, etc. These· appeals are partly allowed to the
aforesaid extent. c
There shall, however, be no order as to costs.
Nidhi Jain Appeals partly allowed.
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