Order keeping Civil Services Board in abeyance invalid: CAT

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Monday reinstated the Civil Services Board (CSB), which was kept in abeyance by the state government in 2014.

While disposing of an application filed by IAS officer B Sharat, challenging his premature transfer from the post of deputy commissioner of Mysuru district, the CAT bench directed the competent authority (Chief minister) to revisit the transfer order after taking recommendations from the Civil Services Board.

The central government had brought in Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Amendment Rules, 2014 pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court in the T S R Subramanian case, mainly on the issue of minimum tenure of IAS officers.

The state government had constituted the CSB on January 31, 2014 but kept it in abeyance on March 12, 2014. The board comprised the chief secretary as chairman, additional chief secretary as a member, principal secretary or secretary of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR-Services) as convener.

A CAT bench (Bengaluru), comprising judicial member Suresh Kumar Monga and administrative member Rakesh Kumar Gupta, termed the order keeping the board in abeyance as invalid and ineffective right from the date of its inception.

“In our considered view, the Government Order dated 12.03.2014 keeping the Civil Services Board in abeyance for an indefinite period is not only contrary to the directions given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Subramanian’s case (supra) but it is also in defiance of a mandate given by the ‘2014 Amendment Rules’ which, in any case, were promulgated by the Central Government in consultation with the State Governments concerned while deriving the powers form the provisions of Section 3 (1) of the ‘1951 Act’,” the bench said.

The competent authority now has to revisit the September 28, 2020 order transferring Sharat, after taking recommendations from the CSB. The board has been directed to follow the procedure as enumerated under the Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Amendment Rules, 2014.

The tribunal also added that CSB should afford an opportunity of hearing to Sharath before making such a recommendation to the competent authority and the whole exercise should be undertaken within a period of one month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the order.