Union Of India vs K. Rajashekhara Reddy

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CIVIL APPEAL NO(S). 4569 OF 2022 (Arising out of SLP(Civil) No(s). 2956 of 2022)

UNION OF INDIA ….APPELLANT(S)

VERSUS

K. RAJASHEKHARA REDDY AND ANOTHER ….RESPONDENT(S)

JUDGMENT

Rastogi, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The instant appeal is directed against the judgment and order dated

6th April, 2021 passed by the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the

State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh while setting aside the Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by VISHAL ANAND Date: 2022.06.14

order of the Central Administrative Tribunal dated 5 th September, 2017 14:47:30 IST Reason:

directing the present appellant to conduct re-medical examination of the 1 respondent-applicant and take consequential steps thereafter within a

period of four weeks.

3. Briefly stated, facts relevant for the purpose are that the Civil

Services Examination, 2014 (hereinafter being referred to as the “CSE

2014”) was notified by the Union Public Service Commission (hereinafter

being referred to as the “UPSC”) on 31 st May, 2014 holding recruitment to

24 participating services including IAS, IFS, IPS, Central Civil Services

Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ posts.

4. In response to the notification dated 31 st May 2014, the respondent-

applicant had also participated in the selection process and on being

successful in the preliminary examination, appeared in the main

examination held in December, 2014 and after qualifying the same, was

called for an interview scheduled on 2nd June 2015. On 3rd June 2015, the

respondent-applicant attended the medical examination at B.R. Ambedkar

Hospital, New Delhi and the medical report of the respondent was

uploaded on the website of the Department on 17 th June 2015. However, in

the said medical report, it was opined that the required Body Mass Index (in

short “BMI”) should be not more than 30 but since the BMI of the

respondent-applicant was 32, he was declared ‘temporarily unfit’.

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5. The result of the Civil Services (Main) Examinations, 2014 was

declared on 4th July, 2015 recommending 1236 candidates in their order of

merit for appointment to various All India Services for Group ‘A’ and ‘B’

posts. However, the name of the respondent-applicant was not shown in

the main list. The consolidated reserve list was later published on 19 th

January, 2016 in accordance with Rule 16(4) and 16(6) of the Civil Services

Examination Rules in the order of merit the name of the respondent-

applicant was shown at Sl. No. 16. Immediately thereafter, in terms of the

order of their merit in the reserve list, candidates were considered for

allotment to various Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ services on 9 th March 2016.

The respondent-applicant at this stage made a representation on 10 th

March, 2016 with the request that he is now medically fit and willing to take

a re-medical examination (which admittedly was beyond the period of six

months), that request was not acceded to by the competent authority, that

became the cause of grievance for filing an application before the Central

Administrative Tribunal by the respondent-applicant.

6. The learned Tribunal, in the first instance, by an interim order dated

17th August, 2016 directed the appellant to send him for re-medical

examination. Because of non-compliance, a contempt petition was also

filed by the respondent-applicant but the fact is neither the re-medical

3 examination was conducted nor any action was further taken by the

applicant in compliance of the interim order of the learned Tribunal.

7. However, the OA was finally heard and dismissed by the Tribunal by

an order dated 5th September, 2017 on the premise that the medical report

of the respondent-applicant was uploaded declaring him to be ‘temporarily

unfit’ on 17th June, 2015 and since no efforts were made for making an

application for re-medical examination within the stipulated period of six

months and for the first time, application was filed by him on 10 th March,

2016 which was beyond the period of six months in terms of Rule 7(a)(vi) of

Appendix-III of the CSE Rules, 2014 and his BMI was more than 30 and

that being the factual matrix, the Tribunal was of the view that it may not be

possible to come to the rescue of the respondent-applicant and dismissed

the application.

8. The order of the Tribunal dated 5 th September, 2017 became the

subject matter of challenge at the instance of respondent-applicant by filing

of a writ petition before the High Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the

Constitution of India. However, there was no dispute on facts but the High

Court, on re-appreciation of the material on record and taking into

consideration the scheme of the CSE Rules 2014 and Rule 7(a)(vii) of

Appendix-III of the CSE Rules 2014, in particular, took note of the fact that

4 though the medical examination report was uploaded on 17 th June, 2015

and the respondent-applicant approached for re-medical examination for

the first time on 10th March, 2016 after a period of six months from 17 th

June, 2015 and arrived at the conclusion that the name of the respondent-

applicant appeared for the first time in the consolidated reserve list on 19 th

January, 2016 at Sl. No. 16 and within the stipulated period of six months,

he made a representation on 10 th March, 2016 for re-medical examination

and took note of the word ‘ordinarily’ as referred to under Rule 7(a)(vii) of

Appendix-III of the CSE Rules, 2014 and held that the word ‘ordinarily’

indicates that in such special cases, discretion can be exercised for

relaxation and granted benefit of extension to the respondent-applicant.

Accordingly, while setting aside the order of the Tribunal dated 5 th

September 2017, the High Court directed the appellant to conduct re-

medical examination of the respondent-applicant and take further

consequential steps thereafter within a period of four weeks under the

judgment dated 6th April, 2021 that became a subject matter of challenge at

the instance of Union of India by filing appeal before this Court.

9. The submission of Mr. Balbir Singh, learned ASG appearing for the

appellant is that the medical report of the respondent-applicant was

uploaded on 17th June, 2015 in terms of Rule 7(a)(vii) of Appendix-III of the

5 CSE Rules, 2014 which clearly indicates that such of the candidates who

are declared ‘temporarily unfit’, the period specified for re-medical

examination should not ordinarily exceed six months at the maximum and

according to him, the representation for the first time, was submitted by the

respondent-applicant on 10th March, 2016 which was admittedly beyond the

period of six months. In the given circumstances, re-medical examination

at the later stage was not permissible and the manner in which discretion

has been exercised by the High Court under the impugned judgment, if

made permissible, will always be abused and submits that the outer limit

has been fixed for six months and the word ‘ordinarily’ has to be read

conjointly with the word ‘maximum’ to be exercised only in exceptional

cases such as in the case of the pregnant female candidate who is unable

to complete a medical examination within a period of six months. In the

given facts and circumstances, the interference made by the High Court

under the order of the Tribunal is not legally sustainable and deserves to be

interfered with by this Court.

10. Shri Nikhil Swami, learned counsel for the respondents, on the other

hand, while supporting the finding recorded by the High Court submits that

it was the last attempt of the respondent-applicant which he had availed

while participating in the selection process initiated in the year 2014 and

6 prior thereto, upto the year 2013, there was a stipulation that the medical

report was being sent to the candidate individually and it was for the first

time in the selection process of the year 2014, it was dispensed with.

Although the facts in reference to publication of list being uploaded of his

medical examination on 17th June, 2015 is not disputed by him.

11. Learned counsel further submits that his name was not included in

the main list published on 4th July 2015, as such, he could not take any

steps and it was only in the consolidated reserve list published on 19 th

January 2016, that his name was placed at Sl. No. 16 and the allotment

was made to Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ services in allocation list on 9 th March,

2016 and without any loss of time, representation was made by him on 10 th

March, 2016 to the Secretary, DoPT along with the medical fitness

certificate dated 24th February, 2016 with a request to the authorities to

consider his case for re-medical examination at the earliest but that was not

acceded to by the department.

12. Learned counsel further submits that even the Tribunal, at one stage,

came to his rescue and passed an interim order directing the authorities to

send him for re-medical examination by an order dated 17 th August 2016.

In the given circumstances, the word ‘ordinarily’ which has been interpreted

by the High Court under the impugned judgment dated 6 th April, 2021 being

7 a special case of the respondent-applicant and the discretion has been

exercised by the High Court is to do justice with the respondent-applicant

particularly, in the peculiar facts and circumstances where he has been

declared to be medically fit, not only at the stage when the representation

was submitted by him on 10th March, 2016 but also thereafter and being his

last attempt, discretion has been judiciously exercised by the High Court

under the impugned judgment and needs no interference.

13. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and with their

assistance perused the material available on record.

14. The facts are not in dispute. The respondent-applicant had

participated in the CSE, 2014 pursuant to notification dated 31 st May, 2014

which was his fifth and the final attempt. After qualifying preliminary

examination followed with the main examination, he appeared for interview

held on 2nd June, 2015 and awaiting the final select list of the candidates,

who had participated in the selection process where each one has to get

himself medically examined. So far as the present respondent-applicant is

concerned, he was sent for medical examination on 3 rd June, 2015 at B.R.

Ambedkar Hospital, New Delhi and his medical report was uploaded by the

Department on its website on 17th June 2015. In the medical report, it was

8 opined that the required BMI should not be more than 30 but the BMI of the

respondent-applicant was 32 as such he was declared ‘temporarily unfit’.

15. Thereafter, on 4th July 2015, the final list of the CSE, 2014 was

declared recommending 1236 candidates in the order of their merit for

appointment to various services of Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ but the name of

the respondent-applicant was not included in the final list. However, later

when the consolidated reserve list came to be published on 19 th January,

2016 in terms of Rules 16(4) and (5) of the CSE Rules in the order of merit,

the name of the respondent-applicant figured at Sl. No. 16. Thereafter, the

competent authority allotted Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’ services to various

candidates on 9th March, 2016 including those who were lower in the order

of merit in consolidated reserve list. At this stage, the respondent-applicant

made representation on 10th March, 2016 with his medical fitness report

showing his willingness to take re-medical examination and requested the

authorities to consider his case for re-medical examination admittedly

which was beyond the stipulated period of six months from 17 th June 2015.

Since it was declined by the authorities, that was the grievance which made

him to approach the Tribunal.

16. This Court, by an Order dated 6th April 2021 directed the appellant to

conduct the re-medical examination and submit a report to this Court in a

9 sealed cover. In compliance of the order of this Court, the re-medical

examination of the respondent-applicant has been conducted by the

medical Board of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Delhi on 12 th May,

2022 and the medical report along with the enclosure dated 12 th May, 2022

has been furnished to this Court where he has been found to be medically

fit for all services.

17. The provision manifests that in case of a candidate who is declared

‘temporarily unfit’, the re-medical fitness certificate in terms of the provision

has to be furnished within six months from the date on which the candidate

was declared to be ‘temporarily unfit’.

18. In this regard, it is relevant to refer Rule 7(a)(vii) of Appendix-III of the

CSE Rules 2014, which states as under:-

“In case of candidate who is to be declared “Temporary Unfit”, the period specified for re-examination should not ordinarily exceed six months at the maximum. On re-examination after the specified period these candidates should not be declared temporarily unfit for a further period but a final decision in regard to their fitness for appointment or otherwise should be given.”

19. Rule 7(a)(vii) of Appendix-III of the CSE Rules 2014 clearly indicates

that such of the candidates who are declared ‘temporarily unfit’, the period

specified for re-medical examination is ordinarily six months at the

maximum from the date of uploading of the medical examination report on

the website of the Department. No communication by the Department

10 regarding findings of the Department is communicated individually and

uploading takes place only by the Medical Board.

20. Indisputedly, in the present case, the medical examination report was

published on 17th June, 2015 indicating the respondent-applicant to be

‘temporarily unfit’ and this is an admitted fact that the respondent-applicant

approached for re-medical examination for the first time on 10 th March,

2016, i.e., after six months of the medical examination report uploaded on

17th June 2015. The details regarding the number of such candidates for

CSE-2014 to CSE-2020 who are declared medically unfit has also been

provided to this Court. It may be noticed that in CSE-2014, there were 10

candidates including the respondent-applicant, declared temporarily unfit

and in overall table for CSE-2014 to CSE-2020 indicates that there are 25

candidates who are declared temporarily unfit failed to submit an

application within a stipulated time of six months after being declared as

‘temporarily unfit’ and have not been allocated to any services in terms of

the scheme of Rules of which a reference is made. The details regarding

number of such candidates for CSE-2014 to CSE-2020 are as under:-

Sl. CSE Year Number of candidates who were not allocated to

No. any Service as they failed to submit medical fitness

against temporarily unfit status within the prescribed

limit

11 1. CSE-2014 10 2. CSE-2015 01 3. CSE-2016 07 4. CSE-2017 00 5. CSE-2018 01 6. CSE-2019 02 7. CSE-2020 04

21. We are also of the view that the period of six months which has been

stipulated under Rule 7(a)(vii) of Appendix III of CSE Rules, 2014 of which

reference has been made, the word ‘ordinarily’ has to be conjointly read

with the word ‘maximum’ during which the candidate has to approach for

re-medical examination from the date of uploading of the medical

examination report on the website of the Department which indicates an

outer limit of six months during which it is open to the candidate to

approach for re-medical examination after being declared ‘temporarily unfit’

from the date of the uploading of the medical examination report on the

website of the Department and the fate of medical fitness is not dependent

upon the result of the selection process held by the Commission.

22. At the same time, there may be a situation as being projected by the

appellant to this Court that in special cases where a pregnant lady may not

be in a position and is unable to complete her medical examination within a

period of six months, in the peculiar circumstances, the word ‘ordinarily’

may be considered for relaxation to a limited extent but the kind of excuse

12 which has been projected by the respondent-applicant that though he was

found to be temporarily unfit but the consolidated reserve list was published

on 19th January, 2016 where his name was placed at Sl. No. 16 and

allotment to Group ‘A’ services was published on 9 th March, 2016, he

immediately filed an application on 10th March, 2016, without loss of time,

which was within the prescribed period of six months from the date of

publication of the reserve list, in our considered view, is neither a valid

justification nor is in conformity with the scheme of Rules of which a

reference has been made.

23. In our considered view, the word ‘ordinarily’ in isolation as interpreted

by the High Court without taking recourse to the word ‘maximum’ as

referred, is not sustainable in law.

24. It is true that the case of the respondent-applicant on legal foundation

is not sustainable but we are constrained to observe that it was the fifth and

last attempt of the respondent-applicant during which he appeared in CSE,

2014 and it is not disputed that before the year 2014, examinations which

were conducted by the appellant, medical report was always made

available to the individual candidate and it is only for the first time in the

year 2014, this clause was inserted where the medical reports are being

uploaded on the website of the Department which was considered to be the

13 notice to all the candidates who had participated in the selection process

which might have created some confusion with the respondent-applicant

and once his name found place in the consolidated reserve list in January

2016, he made a representation on 10 th March, 2016 along with his medical

fitness certificate, and after the orders of this Court, the respondent-

applicant has again been sent for re-medical examination and has been

found “medically fit for all services” as it reveals from the medical report

dated 12th May, 2022.

25. In the given circumstances, this Court, while exercising its plenary

power under Article 142 of the Constitution, to do complete justice, consider

it appropriate to direct that based on the re-medical fitness report, the

appellant may consider the case of the respondent-applicant for

appointment as per his placement in the consolidated reserve list originally

published of CSE, 2014 on 19th January, 2016, subject to police verification,

with all notional benefits including seniority, pay scale and other

consequential benefits but not the actual salary for the period for which he

has not worked, within a period of four weeks from today.

26. Consequently, the appeal succeeds and is allowed. The judgment of

the High Court impugned dated 6th April, 2021 is accordingly quashed and

set aside with the observations made above. No costs.

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27. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.

……………………..J. (AJAY RASTOGI)

………………………J. (VIKRAM NATH) NEW DELHI;

JUNE 14, 2022

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