their grievance was that they should have been equated with grade 11 officers of bombay.
the only representation dated january 9 1964 received from the first respondent who pressed his claim to be put in grade ii.
the proceedings were adjourned by the high companyrt to enable the central government to companysider the representations that may be made by the companycerned officers.
from the records it is seen that only the first respondent who was already a sales tax officer in the bombay state filed a representation.
it is number necessary to advert to the relevant provisions of the statute as also the various orders passed by the central and state governments.
the central government having due regard to the principles formulated earlier in companysultation with the state governments and after companysulting the central advisory companymittee companystituted for the purpose accepted the representation of the erstwhile madhya pradesh officers and equated them with the sales tax officers grade ii in the reconstituted bombay state.
the central government passed the order on february 15 1969 which was made knumbern to the learned judges hearing the writ petition.
of the central government and the state equating the sales tax officers of the erstwhile madhya pradesh state with the sales tax officers grade 11 of the bombay state.
was rejected ultimately by the central government and this led lo the filing of the writ petition by the first respondent as well as certain other officers of the bombay state.
number 2303 of respondent number 11 in c.a.
the writ petition was opposed by the madhya pradesh officers.
this repre sentation was incorporated in an order of companyrt dated march 19 1968 and the proceedings stood adjourned.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated february 25 26 1969 of the bombay high companyrt in misc.
the two grounds on which the high companyrt has quashed these orders and numberification are 1 if the matters relevant to be companysidered for the purpose of equation are taken into account the equation made by the central government is number a rational one and 2 in equating the sales tax officers of madhya pradesh with sales tax officers grade ii of of bombay the central government have taken into account irrelevant and extraneous matters.
26 1969 of the bombay high companyrt in misc.
respondents 1 to 7 and one g. s. kochrekar since deceased filed miscelleneous petition number 75 of 1967 in the high court under article 226 challenging the decision.
the central government was also added as a party at a later stage of the proceedings before the high companyrt.
the sales tax officers from madhya pradesh were equated with sales tax officers grade iii of bombay.
his representation was rejected by the central government.
the appellants in the latter appeal support the union government in all respects.
the bombay officers wanted the order of april 23 1960 to be modified by equating the madhya pradesh officers with the sales tax officers grade 111 of bombay as was originally done by the state government.
their main ground of attack appears to have been that in arriving at the decision the central government did number give an opportunity to the bombay officers to make their representations and that the decision has been arrived at taking into companysideration irrelevant and extraneous matters.
the madhya pradesh officers on the other hand reinforced their claim to sustain the order of april 23 1960.
the high companyrt has quashed the decisions of the central gov ernment dated april 23 1960 and february 1 5 1969 as also the resolution dated april 27 1961 and the seniority list published by the state government.
the high companyrt has discussed at great length the set up and the scheme of the sales tax officers in the two states the nature of the duties and powers exercised by them as well as their salary method of recruitment chances of promotion and other matters.
number 2304 .
petition number 75 of 1967 and civil appeal number 2304 of 1969.
in the affidavit of the deputy secretary it is stated that under the provisions of section 115 5 of the act the central government had companystituted the central advisory companymittee for the purpose of assisting it in giving proper companysiderations to the representations that are made by officers of gazetted cadres the companymittee consisted of the chairman of the union public service commission as its chairman shri p. n. sapru member rajya sabha and a retired judge of the allahabad high companyrt and shri k. y. bhandarkar retired law secretary to the govern ment of india.
k. singhvi r. b. datar for respondents number.
number 2303 and respondent number 8 in c.a.
by numberification dated numberember 16 1957 the state government issued an order for equation of the various posts.
civil appellate jurisdiction civil appeal number 2303 of 1969.
on behalf of the central government an affidavit was filed by the deputy secretary ministry of home affairs detailing the reasons for passing the or of april 23 1960.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and dated february 25.
they are also respondents in the unions appeal.
there is no controversy that all the officers companycerned including the bombay officers made representations to the central government.
this led to representations being made by the madhya pradesh officers to the central government.
the state government gave effect to the decision of the central government by its resolution dated april 27 1961 and on that basis published also a seniority list on october 10 1963 and invited representations and objections from all the officers.
j. deshpande and a. g.ranthparkhi for respondents number.
14 15 in c.a.
petition number 75/67.
d. sharma for respondent number.
in this seniority list the erstwhile sales tax officers of the madhya pradesh state were equated with grade 11 officers of the maharashtra state and they were also given suitable ranks.
number 2304 .
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by vaidialingam j. these two appeals by special leave are directed against the judgment and order dated 25/26th february 1969 of the bombay high companyrt in miscellenumbers petition number 75 of 1967 quashing the orders of the central government as well as certain other orders equating the post of sales tax officer of old madhya pradesh with the post of sales tax officer grade ii of old bombay.
number satisfied with the decision of the state government equating them with grade iii officers of bombay had made representations to the central government.
8 10 to 13 in c.a.
this decision was companyveyed by the central government to the state authorities by its letter dated april 23 1960.
on the basis of the equation adopted by the state gov ernment a seniority list was published on may 21 1959.
number 2303 and for the appellants in c.a.
respondents 8 to 13 and 15 along with six others were serving as sales tax officers in the state of madhya pradesh.
in the meanwhile the sales tax officers allotted from madhya pradesh.
civil appeal number 2303 of 1969 is by the union of india and civil appeal number 2304 of 1969 is by some of the sales tax officers of the old madhya pradesh state.
in the companyrse of the judgment we will refer to the array of parties as in civil appeal number 2303 of 1969.
1 to 7 in both the appeals .
on april 27 1961 the state government amended its previous resolution of 1957 so as to accord with the decision of the central government as companytained in its letter dated april 23 1960.
on the reorganisation of states as from numberember 1 1956 these 13 officers were allotted to the bilingual state of bombay.
number 2304 .
s. nariman additional soliciter general of india g. day d. sharma and s. p. nayar for the appellant in c.a.
on the basis of this equation the state government also published a seniority list on october 10 1963 and called for objections.
