Constitution of India, 1950, Article 316 and 226-Public Service Commission -Chairman and Members-Whether possess qualification and men of integrity and calibre-Whether High Court has power to inquire in such question- Condemnatory observations by High Court-No factual basis on pleadings or evidence-Propriety and validity of.

Administrative Law-

Natural Justice-Condemnatory observations made by High Court against Chairman and Members of Public Service Commission without their being party respondents Whether justified.

Recruitment to posts in Haryara Civil Service (Executive) & Allied Services -Selection by Public Service Commission-Some interviewed candidates closely related to Members-Selections-Whether vitiated.

Viva voce examination-20 candidates called for each post-Whether justified-Allocation of 33.3% marks in case of ex-service officers and 22.2% in case of other candidates-Whether the viva voce examination suffers from the vice of arbitrariness-Guidelines for fixing marks for viva voce examination- Indicated.

Rule 9 clause (1) of the Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch), Rules 1930 prescribes a competitive examination for recruitment to posts in Haryana Civil Service (Executive) and other allied services. Regulation (I) in Appendix (1) lays down that the competitive examination shall include compulsorily and optional subjects and that every candidate shall take the compulsory subjects and not more than three of the optional subjects, and that ex-servicemen shall not be required to appear in the optional subjects. As per Regulation 5, the compulsory subjects carry in the aggregate 400 marks and there is also viva-voce examination which is compulsory and which carries 200 marks and each optional subject carries 100 marks. Thus, the written examination carries an aggregate of 700 marks for candidates in general and for ex-servicemen it carries an aggregate of 400 marks while in case of both, the viva voce examination carries 200 marks. Regulation 3 provides that no candidate shall be eligible to appear in the viva voce test unless he obtains 45 per cent marks in the aggregate of all subjects.

In a written examination held by the Haryana Public Service Commission for recruitment to 61 posts in Haryana Civil Service (Executive) and other allied Services, over 1300 candidates obtained more than 45% marks and thus qualified for being called for interview for the viva voce examination. The Haryana Public Service Commission invited all the candidates for the viva voce exami- nation and the interviews lasted for almost half a year. The number of vacancies also rose during the time taken up in the written examination and the viva voce test and ultimately 119 posts became available for being filled and on the basis of total marks obtained in the written examination as well as viva-voce test, 119 candidates were selected and recommended by the Haryana Public Service Commission to the State Government.

The respondents-petitioners had obtained very high marks at the written examination but owing to rather poor marks obtained in the viva voce test, they could not come within the first 119 candidates and were consequently not selected. They filed several writ petitions in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana challenging the validity of the selection of the appellants and seeking a writ for quashing and setting aside the same. The State of Haryana, Haryana Public Service Commission, three members of the Haryana Public Service Commission and five selected candidates were respondents to the Writ Petitions. The respondents-petitioners contended before the High Court (1) that the Chairman and members of the Haryana Public Service Commission were not men of high integrity, calibre and qualification and they were appointed solely as a matter of political patronage and hence the selections made by them were invalid; (2) that three of the selected candidates were related to two members of the Commission namely, Shri R.C. Marya and Shri Raghubar Dayal Gaur and though these two members did not participate in the interview of their respective relatives, they did participate in the interview of other candidates and the tactic adopted by the Chairman and the members of the Commission was to give high marks to the relatives and award low marks to the other candidates so as to ensure the selection of their relatives. This vitiated the entire selection process; (3) that the number of candidates called for interview were almost 20 times the number of vacancies and this not only imposed an intolerable burden on the Haryana Public Service Commission but also widened the scope for arbitrariness in selection by making it possible for the Haryana Public Service Commission to boost up or deflate the total marks which might be obtained by a candidate. This infirmity had the effect of invaliding the selection made by Haryana Public Service Commission; (4) that the allocation of 200 marks for the viva voce test out of a total of 900 marks for the generality of students and a total of 600 marks for ex- servicemen was arbitrary and excessive and it had the effect of distorting the entire process of selection and it was accordingly unconstitutional as involving denial of equal opportunity in public employment; and (5) that the viva voce test was not conducted fairly and honestly and the selections made were vitiated on account of nepotism, favouritism and casteism and also political motivation. The appellants, however, submitted that the challenge to the validity of selections was unfounded on the grounds, (i) that not only was it not competent to the Court on the existing set of pleadings to examine whether the Chairman and members of the Haryana Public Service Commission were men of high integrity, calibre and qualification but also there was no material at all on the basis of which the Court could possibly come to the conclusion that they were men lacking integrity, calibre or qualification; (ii) that the Haryana public Service Commission being a constitutional authority it was not necessary for Sh. R.C.M arya and Sh. Raghubar Dayal Gaur to withdraw altogether from the interviews and they acted correctly in abstaining from participation when their relatives came to be interviewed. This was in conformity with the principles of fair play and did not affect the validity of the selections; (iii) that under Regulation 3 in Appendix I, the Haryana Public Service Commission was justified in calling for interview all the 1300 and odd candidates who qualified by getting more than 45% marks; (iv) that the allocation of 200 marks for the viva voce test was made under the Punjab Civil Service (Executive Branch) Rules, 1930 and it had stood the test of time and could not possibly be regarded as arbitrary or excessive; and (v) that the selections were made fairly and honestly and they were not tainted by nepotism, favouritism, casteism or political patronage, besides there was nothing to show that any extraneous considerations had influenced the selection process. The High Court set aside the selections made by the Haryana Public Service Commission and directed the Haryana Public Service Commission and the State of Haryana to forthwith declare the result of candidates of all categories on the basis of written examination alone, scrupulously excluding all considerations of the viva voce test. Hence these appeals by the appellants, selected candidates, State of Haryana and three members of the Haryana Public Service Commission.