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Re: W.P. No: 587/75 :

Petitioner No. 1 was Professor of Animal Pathology, petitioner No. 2 was Professor of Animal Genetics and petitioner No. 3 was Professor of Veterinary Parasitology, all attached to IVRI. Six posts of Professors one each in Animal Pathology, Animal Genetics, Veterinary Parasitology, Animal Nutrition, Bacteriology and Physiology were created on the introduction of the post-graduate wing in IVRI in 1958. At the relevant time the post of Professor carried the scale of Rs. 700- 1250. Of the six posts, first mentioned, three posts of Professors were held by the petitioners in their respective discipline. On the introduction of the scales recommended by the University Grants Commission, the pay scale attached to the post of Professor in IVRI was revised to Rs. 1100-1600. After the upward revision during the year 1970-71, the cadre of Professors in IVRI was expanded by creating six new post of Professors in various disciplines. Surprisingly, act of the petitioners, who was already holding post of Professor, was not given the benefit of the upgraded scale attached to the post of Professor while on the other hand the new incumbent recruited in the newly created posts in the year 1970-71 were awarded the revised scale of Rs. 1100-1600. This led to the disturbance in the inter se seniority in the cadre of Professors and manifested an anomalous position that the old incumbents of the posts of Professors such as petitioners, continued in the pre-revised scale of Rs 700- 1250 while the new incumbents were put in the revised scale of Rs 1100-1600 both having the designation of Professor and there is no appreciable difference in the qualifications attached to the post. When this was brought to the notice of the authorities concerned, the ICAR with the concurrence of the Ministry of Finance resolved as per decision dated April 6, 1972 to award the revised scale of pay attached to the post of Professor to the petitioners, but this was subject to the condition that it would not be automatic but the existing incumbents of posts may be considered for revised scale along with other suitable persons. It was implicit in the condition prescribed that the petitioners will have to stand in competition with others applications, if there be any, and go through the hazard of a fresh selection for the post each one was already holding. This is the first grievance voiced by the petitioners in the writ petition contending that the petitioners were qualified for the posts of Professor and that each of them was holding the post from 1963, 1970 and 1970 respectively. The petitioners made various representations basing their claim inter alia on fair play, equality of opportunity in the matter of public employment and equal pay for equal work as well as the provision contained in Fundamental Rule 23. The petitioners also contend that they fulfil the minimum qualification prescribed for the post after upward revision of the pay- scale, and they have the requisite experience and that they are performing the same or identical duties as are being performed by newly recruited Professors in sister disciplines and that denial to them of the revised pay scales for the post of Professor apart from being discriminatory and violative of Art. 14 is thoroughly arbitrary and unjustified. It appears that pursuant to the decision dated April 6, 1972, the ICAR issued an advertisement on May 21, 1974 inviting applications for the post of Professor in Animal Pathology, Animal Genetics and Veterinary Parasitology in the revised scale of Rs. 1100- 1600. These were the posts already held by petitioners. The advertisement set out the essential and desirable qualifications for each post. Petitioners contend that the duties pertaining to the post of Professor in the upgraded scale are the same as performed by the petitioners and that this action of inviting fresh applications for post already held by the petitioners disclosed a cover attempt to remove the petitioners from the posts held by them for years. Petitioners further contend that only three posts held by the petitioners have been advertised inviting the applications for fresh recruitment while there were others who were holding posts of Professors in the pre-revised scale and to whom benefit of automatic upward revision was granted and this disclosed not only the bias of the ICAR but also subjected the petitioners to gross discrimination. Serious allegations of bias and malafide have been made against respondent No. 6, the Director of IVRI, and Director General of ICAR, which need not be set out here. It may, however, be stated that though the various functionaries working in IVRI and ICAR are highly qualified persons, professional rivalry had led to such poisoning of the atmosphere and character assassination had become so rampant and the environment had become so suffocating that the Government of India had to appoint a Committee presided over by late Shri P.D. Gajendragadkar, retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court with wide terms of reference which amongst others included the recruitment and personnel policies of ICAR as well as Institutes and Centres working under it and to suggest measures for their improvement. It is alleged that absolutely incorrect, improper and prejudiced entries are made in confidential reports with a view to harming the career of the persons who have fallen from the grace of the Director and that therefore, the Court should lift the veil of the so-called society and peep into the realities of life. The petitioners accordingly prayed for an appropriate writ, order or direction to quash the advertisement dated May 21, 1975 inviting applications for the posts of Professors in three subjects already held by the petitioners and to confirm the petitioners in the aforementioned posts and to give them the benefit of the revised scale from the date from which it was given to Professors in sister disciplines and to quash the adverse entries in the confidential reports of the three petitioners. On these averments petitioners filed the present writ petition under Art. 32 of the Constitution. Re : S.L.P. No. 2339/75 with R.P. No. 4/77 :

A very brief resume of the history of ICAR commencing from its initial set up and its development into its present position would show that as a matter of form, it is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act but substantially when set up it was an adjunct of the Government of India and has not undergone any note worthy change. On the advent of the provincial autonomy under the Government of India Act, 1919, 'agriculture' and 'animal husbandry' came under the heading 'transferred subject' with the result that they came within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Provincial Government. Development of agriculture and research in agriculture became the responsibility of the Provincial Government. Even then a Royal Commission on agriculture was constituted in 1926 to enquire into the agricultural set up and the rural economy of the country and to make recommendations to consider what firm steps are necessary to be taken by the Central Government in this behalf The Commission in its report recommended the setting-up of Imperial Council of Agricultural Research. Acting upon this recommendation, Government of India sent a telegram to the Secretary of State On April 24, 1929 informing the latter that the process of setting up of the Council is under way and that when set up Council would be a Society. On May 9, 1929, Secretary of State approved the proposal of the Government of India subject to variations mentioned therein. By its Resolution dated May 23, 1929, the Central Government directed that Imperial Council of Agricultural Research should be registered as a Society under the Registration of Societies Act, XXI of 1860. The Resolution further provided that with respect to the grant to be made to the Council to meet the cost of staff, establishment etc., the Government of India decided that for reasons of administrative convenience, it should be in the same position as a department of the Government of India Secretariat. The Imperial Council of Agricultural Research was set up in June 1929. A direction was also given that the research institutes were to be maintained by the Council. In their counter-affidavit filed in the High Court of Delhi it was conceded in paragraph 27 that the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research should in future be an attached office and not the department of the Government to be entirely manned by Government-staff and the secretariat staff of the Council was to be paid from the grant to be given by the Government for its administration and they would be Government servants and the Secretariat would be department of the Government of India. In July, 1929, ICAR was registered as a Society with its office in the Secretariat as an attached office of the Secretariat. By the Resolution dated August 4, 1930, Government of India directed that for reasons of administrative convenience "the Governor-General in Council has now, decided that the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research Department, as the Secretariat of the Council will henceforth be designated, should be a regular department of the Government of India Secretariat under the Hon'ble Member incharge of the Department of Education, Health and Lands". A note was submitted on December 29, 1937 to the then Viceroy concerning the status and position of the ICAR as a Department of the Government in which it was recommended that ICAR should not only be maintained as a distinct entity independent of the Government of India and with a view to achieving this position, the office of the ICAR should not in future be a Department of the Government of India but should be an attached office. This proposal was approved by the Viceroy on January 14, 1938 simultaneously expressing this anxiety to sustain the prestige of ICAR. The next step is one taken by the Resolution dated January 5, 1939 by which the Government of India modified the status of the ICAR from the Department of the Secretariat to one of an attached office of the Government of India. A letter was addressed to the High Commissioner for India in London on January 14, 1939 intimating to him that the Secretariat of the ICAR will cease to be a department of the Government of India and will be an attached office under the Department of Education, Health and Lands with effect from January 15, 1939. Till then recruitment to various posts in ICAR was made through Federal Public Service Commission and this was to be continued even after the change in the status of ICAR as an attached office as evidenced by the letter dated August 24, 1938 by the Joint Secretary to Government or India to the Federal Public Service Commission. A bill was introduced in the Central Legislature styled as the "Agricultural Produce Cess Bill, 1949". The statement of object and reasons accompanying the bill recited that the Central Government have provided grants to the tune of Rs.84 lakhs for the expenditure of the Council and took notice of the fact that the Council has practically no source of income other than the contribution from the Central Revenue which may be unstable depending upon the state of finances of the Central Government. It was further observed that in order to place Council on a more secured financial position it has been decided to levy a cess at the rate of 1/2% on the value of certain agricultural commodities and the proceeds for the proposed cess are estimated to amount in a normal year to about Rs. 14 lakhs. The bill was moved. In the debate upon the bill, a statement was made on behalf of the Government of India that the Central Legislature will retain its full right of interpellation and of moving resolutions and will still vote on the grant of the permanent staff, and some of the activities of the Council. In other words, an assurance was given that the Central Legislative Assembly will have positive control over the affairs of the Council to the some extent and degree when it was a Department or an attached office of the Government of India. On the advent of independence. The Imperial Council of Agricultural Research. With effect from April 1, 1966, administrative control over IARI and IVRI and other institutes was transferred to ICAR simultaneously placing the Government staff of the institutes at the disposal of ICAR as on foreign service. This is evidenced by a communication dated April 19, 1966 addressed by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food, Community, Development and Cooperation to the Directors of central Research Institutes. An option was given to the members of the staff of the Institutes, administrative control of which was transferred to ICAR and the date for exercising the option was extended by the communication dated November 9, 1966. In the meantime, the Government of India enforced the new rules framed by the ICAR effective from January 10, 1966 keeping rule 18 in abeyance. With the change in the status of the ICAR, Department of Agricultural Research and Education ('DARE' for short) was set up in the Ministry of Agriculture and it came into existence on December 15, 1973. This Department was set up with a view to providing necessary Government linkage with ICAR. The major function of the Department was to look after all aspects of agricultural research and eduction involving coordination between Central and State agencies; to attend to all matters relating to the ICAR; and to attend to all matters concerning the development of new technology in agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries, including such functions as plant and animal introduction and exploration, and soil and land use survey and planning. By this very Resolution, the Director General of ICAR was concurrently designated as Secretary to Government of India in the DARE. The position of ICAR was clarified to the effect that in the reorganised set-up, the ICAR will have the autonomy essential for the effective functioning of a scientific organisation and deal. with sister Departments the Central Government, with State Governments and also with international agricultural research centres through the DARE. Rule 18 of the ICAR rules which was kept in abeyance on January 10, 1966 was brought into operation in its entirety effective from April 1, 1974 as per communication dated March 30, 1974 by the Ministry of Agriculture to the Secretary, ICAR The consequence of Rule 18 becoming operative was that the Secretariat of ICAR ceased to be an attached office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Society shall function as 'wholly financed and controlled by the Society'. This last sentence hardly makes any sense. Till Rule 18 was kept in abeyance, recruitment to ICAR was done through the Union Public Service Commission as evidenced by the letter dated August 24, 1938 of the Government of India to the Secretary, Federal Public Service Commission, Simla. Rule 18 as stated earlier became operative from April 1, 1974. Rule 18 provides that 'the Society shall establish and maintain its own office, Research Institutes and Laboratories. The appointment to the various posts under the Society's establishment was to be made in accordance with the Recruitment Rules framed for the purpose by the governing body with the approval of the Government of India".

Having rejected the preliminary objection, we must now proceed to examnine the contention raised in each petition and appeal on merits.

Before we proceed to examine the contentions on merits, unhappy though it may appear to be, and howsoever one would like to avoid reference to it, it is inevitable that one must take note of the deplorable state of affairs in the administration of the affairs of ICAR and the uncongenial atmosphere in which the highly qualified agricultural scientists in this country have to work. ICAR was set up for undertaking Scientific Research in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and allied subjects on which the entire economy of this country revolved till the advent of industrial revolution. It was set up with a view to imparting speed and momentum to research in agriculture and allied subjects so that the country may move from the middle ages to the modern methods in agricultural technology. Unfortunately, since its inception, the domestic atmosphere has not proved congenial to the flowering of the genius of the country's best talent in agricultural research. This came to light when on May 5, 1972, newspapers all over the country flashed the tragic news that a young agricultural scientists, Dr. V.H. Shah, who was working as Senior Agronomist and Associate Project Coordinator in the IVRI had committed suicide by hanging himself in his residence the previous night. There was a commotion in the Parliament and during the debate in the House, Members of Parliament regretfully referred to previous suicides committed by agricultural scientists, one such being of Dr. M.T. Joseph, Teaching Assistant, Division of Entomology, IARI who had committed suicide on January 5,1960. These were not stray incidents but the outcome of persecution, torture and harassment emanating from the polluted environment in ICAR and its affiliates. The then Minister for Food and Agriculture stated in the Parliament that the Government of India was not happy with the procedure of selection of personnel in the ICAR and proceeded to inform the House that they have not been too happy with the present system of recruitment which necessitates a scientist applying for posts and being interviewed by selection committees throughout his working career because the system inevitably provides frequent occasions for disappointment leading to frustration. Two decades thereafter we are constrained to note that the things have not improved at all. The ICAR and the Institutes seem to be so backward looking in their approach to the members of the staff that as late as in 1983 considerable time of this Court was frankly wasted in disposing of the preliminary objection on behalf of the ICAR that it is not amenable to this Court's writ jurisdiction which would imply that they have skeletons to hide and shun their exposure to the Court's examination of the internal affairs. To continue the narrative, a committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of Shri P.B. Gajendragadkar, retired Chief Justice of India and Vice-Chancellor, University of Bombay and at the relevant time Chairman, Law Commission with wide terms of reference inter alia to enquire into the recruitment policies of ICAR and to review the recruitment and personnel policies of ICAR. Institutes and Centres working under it and to suggest measures for their improvement. This Committee submitted its Report and we take note of only one of its findings which reads as under:

It may at this stage be pointed out that the Union Public Service Commission has framed its rules relating to competitive examination held by it in 1978 to recruit personnel to Indian Economic Service and the Indian Statistical Service. Rule 12 and 13 are relevant for this purpose. Briefly, it may be stated that rule 12 authorises the Commission to prescribe minimum qualifying marks for the written examination to be fixed by the Commission at its discretion. It further appears that those who obtain the minimum qualifying marks will be eligible for being called for viva voce test. Rule 13 provides that after the examination i.e. both the written test and the viva voce test, the candidates will be arranged by the Commission in the order of merit as disclosed by the aggregate marks finally awarded to each candidate and in that order so many candidates as are found by the Commission to be qualified by the examination shall be recommended for appointment upto the number of unreserved vacancies decided to be filled on the result of the examination. There is a proviso to this rule which is immaterial. It appears that when the petitioner drew attention of the ICAR that in prescribing the additional qualification of minimum marks to be obtained by the candidates at the viva voce test and not preparing the merit list according to the aggregate of marks by excluding those candidates who had not obtained minimum qualifying marks at the viva voce test, it contravened Rules 13 and 14 and more particularly Rule 14, the ICAR referred the matter to UPSC and enquired about the procedure followed by it. There is an admission in the counter-affidavit of Mrs. Rathi Vinay Jha, Secretary, ICAR and Deputy Secretary, Government of India, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Reconstruction that after the UPSC intimated its procedure, the matter was placed before the Committee of ARS at its meeting held on July 11, 1979. Subsequently, the President, ICAR approved the procedure followed by the UPSC and recommended by the Committee of ARS, and the revised procedure was adopted for the examination held in January, 1981. The revised procedure eliminates obtaining of minimum qualifying marks at viva voce test. May be that the ICAR has corrected itself but what about the damage done to the petitioner and those similarly situated.