STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS. versus BALBIR SINGH ETC. ETC.

STATE OF PUNJAB & ORS.

BALBIR SINGH ETC. ETC. October 6, 1975

[A. ALAGIRISWAMI. P. K. GOSWAMI AND N. L. UNTWAL!A, JJ.]

Art. 311 (2) of the Co11stit11tion-Ciri/ Servicc-Re\'ersion to subs!antil'e posts not by way of p1111is/ime11t-P11nja/J Service of E11gineers (Clas~ II) Rules 1965-Punjab Service of Engineers, Building & Roads Branch (Recrrtment and Conditions of Serrice) Rule 1942-Puniab Reorgm1is'!tio11 Act 1966--Secs. 2, 2(5), 82, 83, 88-Continuance of laws and admil!ist~attve orders .<ff~r r_eorgam-sation-Distinction between adjust111ent of temtories by reorganisa11on and change of sovereignty by succession. conquest, merger or ll'}tegratilm-A11 administrative order beco111cs effective 1\'lien made or when cfi11111111111cated-Ref1111d of remuneration received by Govt. employee losing writ petition ultimately.

The respondents in the "bove 13 nppea.Js by Special Leave alongwith 2 oth_ers fileJ 15 Writ Petitions in the High Cou.rt of Punjab and Haryana, challengrng the order dated 28-10-1966 made by the Government of the erstwhile undivideJ Sta:e of Punjab reverting the respondents to their substantive ranks. The respondents were promoted and appointed as S.D.Os. on officiating basis in the Punj;i,b Public Works Department on the various dates between the 1st March. 1956 and 10th May, 1963. The erstwhile State of Punjab was reorgani·scd by the P.unjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. On lst November, 1966, the former State of Punjab ·ceased to exist and the successor States of Punjab, Haryana, Union territory of Chandiga,rh and the transferred territory came into being. According to :;ection 82 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act every person who immediately hefore the appointed day wa·.i serving in connection with the affairs of the existing State of Punjab would on and from that day provisionally continue to 'erve in connection with the affairs of the State of Punja,b enless he is required by general or special order of the Central Government to ser.ve provisionally in connection with the affairs of any other sticcessor State. Section R3 provides that every person who immediately before the appointed day is holding or discharging the duties of any post or office in connection with the affairs of the ex[sting St:rte of Punjab in any area which 011 .that day falls within any_ of the successor States sball continue to .ho!J the same post or offke in that 'uccessor State and shall be deemed on ·and from that day to have heen duly :•rpointed to the post or office by the. Government or other appropriate authority m the successor State. Sec. 88 provides that the law applic:cb!e in the territorv will continue to apply after reorganisation unless otherwise providecl hr competent legislature. Section 2 (g) of the Act defines law as includinQ any enactment, ordinance. regtilation, order, bye-law. mle, scheme, notificatiol1 or other instrument. having the for:c of law. The impugned orders of rever-sion were communicated to the respondents after !st N'ovcmber, 1966. The orJers were passed by the Government in conrultation with the Punjnb Public Service Commission· before lst November, 1966. The Chief Engineer sent th~ said orders on 30-10-1966. Th.e orders were however received after 1st November. 1966 . 0Before the learned Single Judge of the High Court. the respondents contended that they were governe? by the Punjab. :>ervice of Engineers, Buildings and Roads Branch (Recnutment and Cond1t10ns of Service) Rules 1942 under which they became automatically confirmed as members of the service and could not be reverted without complying with the provisions of Article 311 of the Constitu.tion. The learneJ Single Judge· allowed the Writ Petitions 011 that ground.

On nn apr;ea! before the Division Bench by the appellants. the Divhion Bench divided the respondents into three categories; (1) those who were promoted after 1942 Rules were repealed: (2) these who were promoted within 3 years preceding the repeal of 1942 Rules: and (3) those who were

promoted more than three yea,rs prior to &uch repeal. In the case of first category, the High Court held that the 1942 Rules did not apply. In the case of the ·second category the Division Bench held that they were not entitled to get the benefits of 1942 Rules since they had not completed the period of 3 years probation to acquire the substantive post in accordance with the 1942 Rules. Regarding those respondents who fell in the third category, the Division Bench held that they were promoted in the erstwhile Patiab and East Punjab State·s where the similar rules did not exist and could not be given the advantage o[ 1942 Rules. The Division Bench. held that Punjab Servi~e of Engineers Class II 1965 Rt!les were applicable and therefore before the responclents could be absorbed and admitted to Class IL service approval of the· Public Service Commission wa·s required. Jn the present case, since the Commission did not find them suitable they had to be reverted to their substantive ranks. On consideration of large number of authorities the Division B.endt came to the conclusion that the reversion of the respondents was not hit by Art. 311 ( 2) of the Constitution sin~e the reversion was not by way of punishment. The Division Bench, however, held that the impugn.ed orders were communicated to .the respondents after 1-11-1966 and henee they remained ineffective and still born by rrason of their not having been communicated to the respondents before 1st November, 1%6. The Division Bench, therefore, dismissed the appeals filed by the appellant•s.

In appeals by Special Leave, the appellants contended that the decision of the llivision Bench that the orders of reversion remained ineffective and still born was erroneous.

HELD:

I. The Division Bench rightly held that the orders of reversion were not hit by Art. 311 (2) of the Constitution. This aspect of the matter is now clearly covered by the decision of this Court in the case of Shamsher Singh v. The State of P:mjab, [1975] 1 S.C.R. 814. This part of the judgment of tlie Division Bench was not seriously disputed. [T20-E-F]

2. The impugned orders were not law within the meaning of s. 2 (g) and were, therefore, not saved by s. 88. S. 88 was introduced as m1tter of abundant caution. The law which was in force before the appointed day in the former State of Punjab were bound. to continue until competent ·Legisla-ture or authority of the successor States effect any change in those. laws. If thi> could be the position in the continuance of the law in the successor States, on what principles one can say that the administrative orders made by the erstwhile State of Punjab automatically lapsed and came to an end on and from the appointed day on the coming into existence of the successor States.

fl23B, E-GJ

3. When there is no change of sovereignty and it is merely an adjustment of territories by the reorganisation of particular State, the administrative orders made by the Government of the erstwhile State continue to be in force and effective and binding on the successor States until and unless they are modified, changed or repudiated by the Governments of the successor States. No other view is possible to be taken. The other view will merely bring about chaos in the administration of the new States. The principles laid down by this Court in following cases :

(1) Rajvi Amar Singh v. The State of Rajasthan, [1958] S.C.R. 1013 anJ (2) Rajkumar Narsingh Pratap Singlt Deo v. State of Orissa and Anotlter, [1964] 7 S.C.R. 112.

are not applicable to the present case as this is not case of absorption of one State in another by success.ion, conquest, merger or integration. It would be chaotic if these principles were to be applied to the case of reorganisation of States in the same country. [123H, 124A-D]

4. 'on the fa.:ts and drcumstances of this case the successor State far from repudiating or modifying the orders of reversion adopted those orders as their own. The High Court was wrong in holding that the orders were communi-cated on or after 1st November, 1966 when they were actually received by the

officers concerned. Following the judi;illent of this Court in the case of Srau of Punjab v. Khemi Ram, A.lR. 197.0 S.C. 214, it .was held that t~e or~crs were communicated either on 29-10-1966 or surely on 30-10-1966. fhe iudgment of this Court in the case of Bachiter Singh v. The State of Punjab, [1962] 3 Suppl. S.C.R. 713, distinguished. [125A-C]

5. It is one thing to say that in the ,case of dismissal or the like the, order becomes ·effective only after it is received by the officer .c~ncerned nn.d ·a d!fferent thing to say that an order has no effect at alI before it is. commurncated .m the sense of receipt of the order by the· officer concerned. The orders m the present ,case became effective as. soon as they were sent out and for the ~urpose of section 83 of the Act the respondents must be deemed to be holdmg the posts to which they were reverted on 1st November, 1966. [125-G'H, 126A]

6. About 9 years have passed after the impugned orders of reversion were passed. After the High Court judgment, all the respondents were officiating in the higher posts. After the reversion orders were passed and before the High Court judgment was delivered the respondents were not working in the higher posts. The appellant, therefore, claimed the differenee of salary paid to the respoodents during this period when they were not working as S.D.Os. The respondents contended th<1t even during this period they were either working as S.D.Os or had gone on leave while continuing in such posts. In the circum-stances ju5tice requires that the Governmel1lt should not daim any refund of any part of the salary paid to the respondents upto date. [126G-H, 127A-C]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 518 to 530 ·of 1970.

Appeals by Special Leave from the Judgment and Order d•ated the 21st May, 1969 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in L.P.As. Nos. 286, 327, 340, 368, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379, 380, 502 and 511 of 1968.

0. P. Sharma (fa all appeals) V. C. Mahajan (In C.A. 518) Kapil Sibal (In C.As. 529-530) and N. S. Das Bahl (In C. A. 519-528) for the Appellants.

M. N. Phadke, Mrs. Archana Kumar, M. R. Agnihotri and P. C. Bhartari for Respondents in C.A. 526.

K. P. Bhandari (In CA 521) M. R. Agnihotri (In CA 522) K. J. John (in Cas. 524, 527 and 528), and P. C. Bhartari (In all appeals) for the Respondents.

Purl and

S. K. Mehta, K. R. Nagaraja, M. Qamaruddin, P. N.

K. L. Mehta for Respondents (In CA. 530) ..

The Jtidgment of the Court was delivered by

DNTWALIA, J.-In these 13 appeals by special leave the appellants are (1) the State of Punjab, (2) Union of Fndia, Respondent no. 1 in Civil Appeal No. 519 of 1970 and the sole respondent in each of the remaining 12 appeals are the concerned Government servants. The said 13 Government serva~1ts alongwith two more filed 15 writ peti-tions to challenge order dated the October 28, 1966 made by the Government of the erstwhile undivided State of Punjab. Their writ applications were allowed by learned single Judge of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh. 15 Letters Patent Ap-peals were filed by the appellants. They have been dismissed by

Division Bench of: the High Court. 13 appeals have been brought to this Court and not the other two. Since the Division Bench ol High Court has disposed of all the 15 Letters Patent appeals by comt;1011 judgment, to avoid confusion in the statement of facts we think it better to state in chart form the number of the Civil Appeal. the corresponding number of the L.P.A. and the name of the Govern-ment servant concerned.

·At th~ ~ut~d it may be st~ted th~t the respondent in Civil Appeal No. 52 l Dasaundi Ram is dead and that appC'al has abated O'a that ac-count. Bhagwan Singh, respondent in Civil Appeal No. 519 docs not seem to be in service any longer and no body has appeared in this Court on his behalf. Out of the remaining 11 respondents, we were informed at the Bar, th-at the 7 respondents in Civil Appeals 522 to 527 and 529 have since retired from service. Only 4 of the rc~­pondcnts in Civil Appeals 518, 520, 528 and 530 arc still in service. Respondents Balbir Singh, Surmukh Singh, Dasaundi Ram, Jagdish Singh, Surat Singh, Kartar Singh and Gurbux Singh Wi!rc promoted aad appo;nled on officiating basis as Sub-Divisional om~cr;; in the Punjab Public Works- Department (Buildings and Roads Branch) on various !.!ates between 30-7-1960 to 10-5-1963. Respondents R. R. Bhanot. Jodh Singh and Gurcharan Singh were so appointed between dates 1.1~12-1957 and 10-12-1959. Responclen"ts Shamshcr iSingh a11d Bakhtawar Singh were promoted on 22-10-1956 and 1-3-1956 respectively. Responde•at Kartar Singh was working as planning Assistant-cum-Draftsman while the other respondents were Overseers before they were appointed as officiating Sub-Divisional Officers. By the impugned order dated October 28, 1966 the then Government of the erstwhile Punjab State reverted them to their original rank. The orders of their reversion were challenged by the said respondents on the ground that they were governed by the Punjab Service of Engineers. Buildings and Roads Branch (Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1942 (for brevity, the 1942 RulesL They claimed that they

had become automatically confirmed as members of the service under the said Rules and could ~10t be reverted without complying with the provisions of Article 311 ( 2) of the Constitution of India and the other statutory Rules relating to disciplinary matters. This was the only point which succeeded before the learned single Judge and he allowed all the writ applications, it appears, without fully appreciating the distinction of facts of the various cases for the acceptance of this ground.

Respondent Bhagwan Singh was appointed as temporary Assistant Engineer on completion of his six months training period with effect from December 3, 1960. His service was terminated by the thei1 Punjab Govert11ment by order dated October 28, 1966 on the grourid of his having been found imsuirable for appointment to P.S.E. Class II (B & R Branch). Bhagwan Singh also relied upon 1942 Rules before the learned single Judge and succeeded. The Division Bench bas very carefully and elaborately considered the application: of the 1942 Rules to the cases of the respondents. It has disagreed with the single Judge's view. After copiously quotingi froin the 1942 Rules, the High Court in apepal has referred to the Punjab Service of Engineers Class I P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules 1960 (for brevity, the 1960 Rules) regulating the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to the P.S.E. Class I service. The 1960 Rules came into force 0'11 and from March 18, 1960. It had repealed the 1942 Rules by Rule 24 with saving clause in the proviso appended th.ereto. The High Court then referred to the Punjab Service of Engineers, Gass II P.W.D. (Buildings and Roads Branch) Rules, 1965 (for brevity, Class II 1965 Rules). The said Rules came into force from February 19, 1965. The stand on behalf of the State of Punjab in the High Court was :-(1) that the 1942 Rules did not govern the cases of the respo[1]ndents as the said Rules applied to class I service consisting of Assistant Execu-tive Engineers and officers of higher ranks only; (2) that the respon-dents had to be taken in P.S.E. Class II service in accordance with Rule 6(5) (b) of Class II 1965 Rules read with paragraph 1 (d) of Appendix 'G' of the said Rules, in co'asultation with the Punjab Public Service Commission; (3) that since the Commission did not find them suitable for being admitted to that service, they were reverted to their substantive rank in accordance with the terms and conditions of their service and not by way of punishme<,1t.

The High Court made comparative study of 1942 Rules, 1960 Rules and Class II 1965 Rules and came to the conclusion that the officiating Sub-Divisional Officers, as the respondents were, not being Assistant Executive Engineers, were not governed by the 1942 Rules. None of them had claimed that he was holding the rank of Assistant Executive Engi,neer in any capacity. The view of the learned single Judge that the Sub-Divisional Engineers were included in the category of Assistant Executive Engineers did not find favour with the Bench. The Bench further po~ated out that the respondents should be divided into three categories: (a) those who were promoted subsequently to the 9-- L1276SCI[75

repeal of the 1942 Rules, (b) those who were promoted with him three years preceding such repeal and ( c) those who were promoted more than three years prior to such repeal. The respondents promoted on dates between 30.7.1960 and 10.5.1963 fell within the .first category. Obviously they could not claim the protection on the basis of 1942 Rules. The three respondents who were appoi'.1ted as officiating Sub-Divisional Officers between 17-12-1957 and 10-12-1959 fell within the second. category. The High Court rightly held that they had not completed the maximum period of three years probation to acquire the substantive posts of Sub-Divisional Officers fixed . under Rule 12(3) of 1942 Rufos, even assuming that they could take ad-vantage of the same. Respondents Shamsher Singh· a'ad Bakhatawar Singh had been promoted in the year 1956 and fell within the third category. The Division Bench pointed out th-at in their case the diffi-c culty in the application of the 1942 Rules was that they were promot-ed in the erstwhile Patiala and East Punjab States Union. It could not be shown that there were any statutory Rules governing their condi-. tions of service and appointments as Sub-Divisioil'al Officers. Since on the date of the impugned order·dated 28.10.1966 they had put in more than 1 O·years of service as officiafa1g Sub-Divisional Officers, their case was considered to be hard on~. But for the purpose of the law they could not be given the advanrage of the 1942 Rules and obviously so.

It is plain that the case of none of the respondents was covered by the 1942 Rules. All the respondents had to be absorbed and admitted to P.S.E. Class II service in accordance with Class II 1965 Rules and that required the approval of the Public Service Commission. Sh1ce Commission did not find them suitable, they had to be reverted to their substantive ranks. On consideration of large number of authorities the High Court has rightly come to the conclusion that their reversion was not hit on account of the non-compliance with the provisio[1]as of Article 311 ( 2) of the Constitution or any Rules governing the disciplinary action. The reversion was not by way of punishment. This aspect of the matter is now squarely covered by the decision of this Court in Shamsher Singh & Anr. v. State of Punjab ( 1) ( vide page 83 7) .

few new potats were urged on behalf of the respondents in the Letters Patent appeals. They were not allowed to be raised except the one which eventually succeeded and the Letters Patent appeals were •allowed on the basis of that point.

The decision of the High Court as respects the application of the 1942 Rules to the cases of the respondents and the order of reversion not being hit by the alleged no'a-compliance with Article 311 ( 2) of the Consti~ution could not be seriously challenged before us. We agree with the view expressed by the Division Bench. It is not neces-sary to repeat all that has been sa.id by the High Court in that regard. We now proceed to conJider the only substantial question which falls for determinatio[1]a in these appeals.

The erstwhile State of Punjab was re-organized by the Punjab Re-A organization Act, 1966, Central Act XXXI of 1966, hereinafter' called the Act. On the appointed day i.e. on 1-11-1966 the former State .of Punjab ceased to exist and the successor States of Punjab, Haryana, Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Trai,1sferred Territory came into being. All the respondents except respondent Bhagwan Singh .came to be allocated to the new State of Punjab. Bhagwan Singh was allocated to Haryana and then to Himachal Pradesh. The High ·Court took the view that the impug11ed orders were communicated to the respondents concerned on or after 1.11.1966 and hence they "remained ineffective and still-born by reason of their not having been communicated to the respondents before 1.11.1966." Though this point had beeta taken in the writ petitions, it does not seem to · have :been pressed before the learned single Judge. The Division Dc:nch treating it as pure question of Jaw allowed it to be raised in the Letters Patent appeals and ultimately dismissed the appeals by holding in favour of the appellants that since the impugned orders were com-municated to them after coming into force of the •aew successor States they could not affect their status and position which they held on 1.11.1966.

The factual position in relation to the point at issue is like this. The erstwhile State of Punjab was under the President's Rule before. its re-organization. The order in the name of the President of I'ndia authenticated by Secretary to Government of Punjab, P.W.D. B&R/ P.H. Branches recited "The President of India, in consultation with the Punjab Public Service Commission, does not consider 'the follow~ag officiating Sub-Divisional Officers of Punjab, P.W.D. & R Branch, suitable for appointment to P.S.E. Class II (B & R Branch) and accor-dingly they are reverted as indicated below with immediate effect." The list contains the names of 20 officers including the [1]aames of 12 res-pondents other than respondent Bll'agwan Singh. An Issue Book was shown to us at the time of the h~aring of these appeals by the State counsel indicating that the Governme[1]at order aforesaid was forwarded to the Accountant Qeneral Punjab, Simla and to the Chief Engineer, Punjab P.W.D. & R Branch, Patiala, for information and necessary action. The Chief Engitaeer as it appears from the statement in the counters filed on behalf of the State communicated the order to the officers concerned as per his Memo No. 8E/47/Re-org/11670-710 dated 30.10.1966. The respondents, however, seem to have received the orders on or after 1.11.1966. The question for consi-deration is whether the view of the High Court that the orders being admini5trative in nature were not laws within the· meaning of the Act and hence were not saved by section 88 is correct and whether they remained ineffective and inoperative because they not communi-cated to the respondents before 1.11 .1966.

Under the Act certain territories were carved out from the appoint-ed day from the then existing State of Punjab. Under sections 3 and 4 were formed the State of Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The territories mentioned in section 5 were added to the then Union territory of Himachal Pradesh. The balance was to

remain in the State of Punjab under section 6. Sections 3 to 6 occur im Part II of the Act. Part III deals with the representation in the Legis-latures and allocation of sitting members etc. Part IV concerns the making of the existing High Court as the common High Court for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Part V is headed "Authorisation of Expenditure and Distribution of Revenue." Part VI deals with "Apportionment of Assets and Liabilities." Part VII makes provi-B sions as to certain Corporations. Part VIII relates to Bhakra-Nangal and Beas Projects. We are concerned with some of the-sections of Part IX headed Provisions as to services and Part X mak-t,1g Legal and miscellaneous provisions. Section 81 in Part IX con-~ains provisions relating to All India Services. Section 82 ( 1) is· important and reads as follows :

"Every person who immediately before the appointed day is serving in connection with the affairs of the existing State of Punjab shall, on and from that day, provisio1,1ally continue to serve in connection with the affairs of the State of Punjab unless he is required, by general or special order · of the Central Government, to serve provisionally in connec-tion with the affairs of any other successor State."

According to the provision aforesaid all the respondents provisionally ·continued to serve in connectim1 with the affairs of the State of Punjab and eventually also all of them (except Blragwan Singh) continued to-serve with that State. We shall now read sectioia 83 on which great reliance was placed on behalf of the respondents :

"Every person who i)!lmediately before the appointed day is holding or discharging the duties of any post or office in connection with the affairs of the existing State of Punjab in any area which on that day falls within any of the succes-sor States shall continue to hold the same post or office in that successor State and shall be deemed, on and from that day, to have been duly •appointed to the post or office by the Government of, or other appropriate authority in, that suc-cessor State :

Provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to prevent compete'at authority on or after the appointed day from passing in relation to such person any order affecting his continuance in such post or office."

Section 88 occurring in Part X provides :

"The provisions of Part II shall not be deemed to have effected aiay change in the territories to which any law in force immediately before the appointed day extends or applies, and territorial references in any such faw to the State of Punja& shall, unless otherwise proyided by competent Legislature or other competent authority, be construed as meaning the territories within that State immediately before the appointed day."

:Law is defined in clause (g) of section 2 of the Act to say :

"law" includes 'J.11y enactment, ordin•ance, regulatioh, order, bye-law, rule, scheme, notification or other instrument having, immediately before the appointed day, the force of law in the whole or in any part of the existing State of Punjab;"

We agree with the High Court that the impugned orders in question were not law within the meaning of sectiot,1 2(g) and hence were, in terms, not saved by section 88. We think the High Court is right 'When .it says : · ;: '.

"Section 88 appears to have been introduced as matter . ·of abundant caution. In my opinion, mere splitting up of the territories of Punjab into four successor States would not ipso facto result in the abrogation or repeal of the laws ·which were immediately in force before the appointed day in those- territories. There is nothing in the 1966 Act, not even in Section 88, which expressly or by necessary intend--me1,1t repeals the laws which were in force immediately be-fore the appointed day in the . territories of the former -Punjab. Those laws derived their force de hors the 1966 Act. !he first part of Section 88 is merely clarificatory of any doubts which might arise as rnsult of the reorganisation of Punj•ab, while the latter part of this section is merely an ·>adaptative provision, to the effect, that the territorial referen-ces in any such law to the State of Punjab shall continue to mean the territories within that State immediately before the appo~,1ted day. Thus, read as whole Section 88 merely dispels doubts as to the continuity of the laws which were in force before the appointed day in the former State of Punjab, until the competent legislature or authority of the successor States effects any change in those laws."

If this could be the position in the continuance of the law in the successor States, on what principles clae can say that the administra-tive order m>ade by the erstwhile State of Punjab automatically lapsed and came to an end on and from the appointed day on the coming into existence of the successor -States. Is it possible to take the view that the Legislature when it made so many provisions in the Act in its various parts in regard to the matters already referred to, did not think it appropriate to make provision for the continuance of the effect of the administrative orders passed by the Government of the erstwhile State of Punjab until the Governments of the successor States modified or changed it? Or, is it, as matter of law and propriety, reasot,iable to think that the Legisl'ature did not consider it necessary at ·all to make such an express provision, as the continuance of the effect ·<>f such orders was to obvious even without such provision ? In our Judgment when there is no change of sovereignty and it is merely an adjustment of territories by the reorganization of particular State, the administrative orders made by the Government of the erstwhile

State continue to be in force and effective and binding on the succes-· sor States until and unless they are modified, changed or repudiated by the Governments of the successor States. No other view is pos-sible to be taken. The other view will merely bring about chaos in the admi11istration of the new States. We find no principle in sup-port of the stand that administrative orders made by the Government of the erstwhile State automatically lapsed and were rendered ineffec-tive on the coming into existence of the new successor States.

On behalf of the respondents reliance was placed upon the decisions of this Court in: Rajvi Amar Singh v. The Staie of Rajasthan(') and Rajkumar Narsingh Pratap Singh Deo v. State of Orissa and another([2 ]) Bose, J. delivering the judgment of the Court in the former case hacl said at page 1018 :

"Now it is well established that when one State if absorb-ed in another, whether by accession, conquest, merger or integration, all contracts of service between the prior Govern-ment and its servants automatically tenninate and thereafter those who elect to serve in the new State, and are taken on by it, serve on such terms and conditions as the new State may choose to impose. This is nothing -more, (though on more exalted scale), than an application of the principle that underlines the law of Master and Servant when there is change of masters." The said principle is not applicable to the case on hand as it is not case of absorption of one State in another by accession, conquest, merger or integration. It would be chaotic if this principle were to be applied to the case of re-organization of States in the same country. In the case of Raj Kumar N. P. Singh Deo (supra) question arose as to whether the sanad granted by the ruler of Dhenkanal who was an absolute monarch and which State after indeoendence of India came to be merged in the State of Orissa was purely executive act or law within the meaning of Article 372 of the Constitution. This Court decided that this was purely an e~ecutive act. The Orissa Government had discontinued the payment of the allowance under the sanad to the grantee. The action was upheld on the ground that the executive act of the ruler of another sovereign: State could not be binding on the Orissa Government and that Government had full authority to discontinue the payment of the allowance. Indirectly the said decision of this Court supports the view which we have ex-G pressed above. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the impugned orders passed by the Government of the erstwhile State of Punjab con-tinued to be the orders of the Governments of the concerned successor States until and unless they were modified, changed or repudiated by them. Nothing of the kind was done by the new State of Punjab; rather, by treating that order as valid and adopting it as its own, the new State of Punjab resisted the writ applications and pursued the · matter in the Letters Patent appeals and upto this Court in these

appeals. -----

(1) [1958] S. C. R. 1013.

On the facts and in the circumstances of these cases we do not agree with the High Court that the communication of the orders was on or after 1-11-1966 when they were actually received by the officers concerned. Following the ratio of the decision of Bench of 4 Ju9ges of this Court, in the case of State of Punjab v. Khemi Ram(') we hold that the orders were communicated either on 29-10-1966 or surely on 30-10-1966. The earlier decisions of this Court have been considered by Shelat, J. in the decision aforesaid. In Bachittar Singh v. The State of Punj~b([2]) no formal order of the Government had even been drawn up, much less communicated, and, therefore, it was held that it was neither a.n order of the Government nor was the order communicated. What is the meaning of communication of the order in given case did not fall for decision before this Court in the case of Bachittar Singh.

In the case of State of Punjab v. Amar Singh Harika([3 ]) the order of dismissal passed on 3rd June, 1949 was actually communicated to the officer concerned on 2/3rd January, 1953. BuJ before the said date the said officer had come to know on 28th May 1951 about the dismissal order. This date was taken to be the date of communica-tion. Shelat, J. has considered the earlier cases of this Court including the one ·in S. Pratap Singh .v. The State of Punjab([4]). In paragraph 16 of the judgment the law laid down is :"It will be seen that in all the decisions cited before us it was the communication of the impugned order which was held to be essential and not its actual receipt by the officer concerned and such communication was held to be necessary b.ecause till the order is issued and actually sent out to the person concerned the authority . making such order would be in position to change its mind and modify it if it thought fit. But once such an order is sent out, it goes out of the control of such an authority, and therefore, there would be no chance whatsoever of its changing its mind or modifying it. In our view, once an order is issued and it is sent out to the concerned government servant, it must be held to have been communicated to him, no matter when he actually re-ceived it." .

Applying the principles of law aforesaid we find in this case that the orders went out of the control of the authority which had passed that order on 29-10-1966 when copies of the orders were forwarded to the Accountant General and the Chief Engineer. In any event, we think that the orders were despatched from the office of the Chief Engineer on 30-10-1966. It is one thing to say that in the case of dismissal or the like the order becomes effective only after it is received by the officer concerned and different thing to say that an order has no effect at all before it is communicated in the s.ense of receipt of the order by the concerned officer. In the sense we have said above the

(1) A. I. R. 1970 S. C. 214.

(2) [1962] 3 Suppl. S. C. R. 713.

(3) A. I. R. 1966 S. C. 1313.

(4) [1964] 4 S. C.R. 733,

orders were communicated ·to all the respondents before 1-11-1966. They became effective as soon as they were sent out. And for the purposes of section 83 of the Act the respondents must be deemed to be ho'.ding the posts to which they were reverted on 1-11-1966.

Reliance was placed on behalf of the respondents upon the deci-sion ot learned single Judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court in the case of Shiv Saran Dass Sood v. The State of P.unjab and others(') wherein it was held that there is no provision in the Act whereunder the proceedings for disciplinary action against public servant, who is allotted to State other than one in which the proceed-ings are pending, could be continued by the Inquiry Officer already appointed nor could such Inquiry Officer submit his report to the corresponding authority in the State to which the public servant is allocated. We wish to point out that the proposition of law enunciat-ed in such bald manner is not correct. The Inquiry Officer may not be competent to continue the enquiry and submit the report for diffe-rent reasons. But it is not correct to say that :

"the Inquiry Officer appointed by the Commissioner, Ambala Division, prior to the re-organisation of the State, cannot be taken to be the Inquiry Officer appointed by the Commissioner, Jullundur Division, after November 1, 1966 as there is no provision in the Punjab Re-organisation Act where under the proceedings for disciplinary action against public servant, who is allocated to State other than the one in which the proceedings are pending, could be conti-nued by the Inquiry Officer already appointed nor could such Inquiry Officer submit his report to the corresponding authority in the State to which the public servant is allo-cated."

Shorn of the complications of other facts if the Inquiry Officer was appointed by the Commissioner of Division which was part of the undivided State and on re-organisation becomes part of the new State, the disciplinary proceeding started earlier can undoubtedly be continued and concluded without fresh order of starting discipli-nary proceeding. ' .

We. therefore, hold that the view taken by the High Court that the orders were still born and ineffective because they were received by the respondents on or af1;er 1-11-1966 is not correct.

After careful consideration we have arrived at the conclusion that the impugned orders of reversion dated October 28, 1966 were valid. About 9 years have passed since then and some complications have arisen during this period. Admittedly, after the High Cciurt judgment, all the respondents were officiating in the higher posts. At the time of the hearing of these appeals, we were given to understand at the Bar that none of the respondents was reverted pursuant to the impHgned or~er. We asked the parties to ascertain the correct position and file their statements. On behalf of the Government we have been inform-

(1) 72 Punjab Law R~porter 950.

ed that they will .not claim any refund of the sal~ri~s paid to . t~~ res-pondents for the period they have worked as officiatmg Sub-D1V1s1onal Officers in the Department. But they claimed that the respondents were not working as such after the reversion order and before . the High Court Judgment and hence they are entitled to get back the diffe-rence of salary paid to the respondents for the period they have not worked as Sub-Divisional Officers and had worked only as Overseers and Draftsmen in their substantive posts. The difference of salary for the intervening period between the order of reversion and the High Court Judgment was paid to them subject to the furnishing of the bank guarantee. On the other hand, it is claimed on behalf of the respondents that even during those periods tl1ey were working as S.D.O. or had gone on leave while continuing in such posts. In the circumstances justice requires that the Government should not claim any refund of any part of the salary paid to the respondents until today. Partly in view of their understanding and partly because of the requirement of justice, we direct the Government not to do so.

The final result of the appeals is as follows :

Civil Appeal No. 521/1970 is dismissed as abate<l on account of ~h~ death .of the respondent. The respondent of Civil Appeal No. 519, 1t 1s adm1tt<;d i;m all hai;ids, is no longer in service. This appeal is, therefore, <hsm1ssed as mfructuous. The remaining 11 appeals are a.Uowed, the judgmen~ .a'.ld orders of the High Court both of the single Jll;dge .and tJ:e Dmswn Bench are set aside. But this is subject to the directions given above in regard to the salary paid to the res-pondents so far. There will be no order as to costs in anv of the appeals. '