New Delhi: The Karnataka Civil Service Rules, 2022 have been challenged in the Supreme Court by a group of civil servants, who contend the guidelines could lead to an “impermissible” situation arising out of lateral entry in the state civil services.
The group from the Karnataka Municipal Administrative Service (KMAS) moved the top court after the Karnataka High Court, in July, upheld the 2022 Rules and dismissed its plea.
The government’s actions could lead to an “impermissible” situation where junior public sector employees are unlawfully placed above senior public servants, they said, challenging the 2022 Rules that allow for the lateral entry of public sector employees into the state civil services.
Significantly, Section 3 of the Karnataka State Civil Services Act, 2020, imposes a bar on the absorption of public sector employees into public service, a point highlighted in the plea. The petitioners pointed out that the Act could lead to reduction of the promotion quota from 52 percent to 20 percent and juniors superseding seniors.
On Monday, a bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan asked the Karnataka government to file its response within six weeks, adding that future appointments would be subject to the outcome of the present case.
The plea filed in October, argued that the government, under the guise of issuing an executive order, essentially allowed the absorption of urban local body employees into the KMAS, without following the established procedure for amending the relevant cadre and recruitment rules.
Moreover, it said the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms termed this “absorption” to be wholly impermissible of the Karnataka State Civil Services (Prohibition of Absorption of the Services of the Employees of Establishments in Public Sector into Public Service) Act, 2020.
Grounds for challenge
Contending that the 2022 Rules were ultra vires and procedurally illegal, the group argued that these rules had not followed the layered process outlined by the Karnataka government in its 6 July, 2020 circular, which required the Head of Department to first prepare draft rules, and then get it scrutinised by the departmental committees.
Such rules would require consultation with personnel and administrative reforms and finance departments before being placed before the Cabinet for objections, their plea pointed out, while saying that not complying with such a process would render the whole process illegal.
They argued that such recruitment rules cannot create or change designation of posts. Such posts must be approved separately by the finance department, after an executive order is issued with prior consent, they said.
The Directorate of Municipal Administration, they said, was the competent authority to initiate and prepare the draft Cadre and Recruitment Rules. In the present case, the officer concerned, had in August, 2020, advised against merging of posts and pointed out how it was not in accordance with the Karnataka Municipal Administration Services Rules.
The impact of such an Act could lead to reduction of the promotion quota from 52 percent to 20 percent and juniors superseding seniors, the plea said, adding that there could be an increase in litigation on such matters.
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How case reached SC
On 25 July, the HC dismissed a plea filed by civil servants in the KMAS, who were serving as Chief Officers, Grade–II in the Directorate of Municipal Administration, and whose services were governed by the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964. The group argued that under Section 365 of the Act, local specified posts under local authorities are to be filled by KMAS officers, as opposed to public sector employees.
Before the HC, these officers had challenged a 2023 order passed by the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, which dismissed their pleas while holding that cadre-structuring lies under the ambit of the rule-making authority. Cadre structuring refers to creating cadres, categories and abolishing them. However, the HC dismissed saying that reduction in promotional chances is not actionable per se.
Under the 1964 Act, the government devised the Karnataka Municipalities Rules, 2010, which regulated recruitment to all posts connected with urban local body affairs. This included posts like that of revenue officers, office managers and even office assistants.
In 2020, however, it enacted the Karnataka State Civil Services Act, which, under Section 3, imposed a blanket prohibition on the absorption of public sector establishment employees into the state civil services.
The problem, however, arose in September 2020, when the government issued an executive order promoting revenue officers to the post of Chief Officers (Cadre I), superseding Section 3 of the Act.
In 2021, the order was challenged before the HC which held that an order merging the cadres of revenue officers with Cadre I officers could only be passed if the 2010 Rules were amended. It noted that an executive order could not alter service conditions in such an impermissible manner where juniors are placed above seniors in the cadre hierarchy.
A year later, the Karnataka Municipal Administrative Services (Cadre and Recruitment) Rules, 2022, which replaced and updated the earlier framework, and cut down to 20 percent the promotion quota for Chief Officers Grade–II to Chief Officer Grade–I, with the remaining posts diverted towards direct recruitment and lateral entrants.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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