Supreme Court

B.H. Khawas v. Union of India (UOI) and Ors.

MANU/SC/0904/2016

12.08.2016

Service

Appointment cannot be treated as final when terms and conditions mentioned therein not fulfilled

Appellant was appointed as "Chemical Examiner Grade-I" in Customs and Central Excise Department, subject to fulfilling terms and conditions mentioned herein against vacancy reserved for Scheduled Tribe. Appellant was working on that post till his services were terminated consequent to decision of Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee-that, Appellant belonged to caste "Koshti", which is not a Scheduled Tribe in State of Maharashtra. Tribunal allowed original application and directed re-instatement in service by setting aside termination order. Appellant is aggrieved by order of High Court reversing decision of Central Administrative Tribunal.

Appellant was appointed to post of Chemical Examiner in Customs and Central Excise Department, where he joined, pursuant to appointment letter. Condition No. (vii) therein unambiguously mentions that as appointment of Appellant was against post reserved for Scheduled Tribes, it was provisional and subject to verification of his caste certificate through a proper channel. Mere fact that, Scrutiny Committee was not able to complete enquiry on question of validity of caste certificate, before Appellant resigned from services of Indian Bureau of Mines and joined another Department of Government of India, that would not extricate Appellant from requirement of verification of his caste claim of "Halba", a notified Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra. Appointment of Appellant as Chemical Examiner was to a temporary post, on provisional basis and subject to verification of his caste certificate through a proper channel. It was not treated as final by Department till impugned termination order was issued.

Appointment as Chemical Examiner in Customs and Central Excise Department vide appointment letter dated 16th June, 1995 had not attained finality. Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee had finally answered factum of caste claim of Appellant on basis of relevant material, which is indicative of fact that in relevant official record pertaining to even close relatives of Appellant (grandfather and uncle), caste recorded is "Koshti" and occupation shown as weaving separately. Scrutiny Committee had unambiguously held that, Appellant does not belong to "Halba" Community, a notified Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra. Supreme Court pronounced the judgment holding that, High Court was, right in allowing writ petition filed by Department and to restore termination order.

Tags : Appointment Conditions therein Termination Legality

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