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A.P. Showkath Ali v. The State of Kerala

Civil Appeal · 2017 INSC 736Decided 10 Aug 2017
Civil Appeal No. 2827 of 2010
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

In 1988, the Kerala government specially recruited 37 Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Assistant Sub-Inspectors of Police, who were required by rule to pass a probation-confirmation test conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission. For over twelve years, the Commission never actually held that test, yet the officers had already been provisionally promoted by court order and were now facing being overtaken in further promotions because their probation was never formally confirmed. To fix this, the Kerala government invoked a general "catch-all" equity provision (Rule 39) to exempt these 37 officers from the never-held test. The appellants, other officers affected by this exemption, challenged the government's order as unlawful, arguing a specific rule (13AA) barred such exemptions for police promotions below Sub-Inspector rank, and that the Kerala High Court had wrongly upheld the government's order.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that Rule 39, by its own terms, operates "notwithstanding anything" in the regular Rules, Special Rules, or any other Government Order, making it an exception that overrides the narrower bar in Rule 13AA. It also distinguished that Rule 13AA deals with promotion, while Rule 39 was invoked here for probation, a different stage. Endorsing Kerala High Court precedent, the Court reasoned that it would be unjust to penalize the 37 officers for failing to clear a test the government itself never scheduled in twelve years, and that equity exists precisely to fill such "yawning gaps" left by rigid rules. The appeal was dismissed, but the Court clarified it was ruling only on the narrow validity of the 2000 government order, leaving any other grievances of the appellants to be pursued separately through proper channels.

Lesson Learnt

Where a government or institution fails for years to provide someone the opportunity to meet a formal requirement (like a mandatory test), authorities can use equity-based rules to excuse that requirement rather than penalizing the individual for an impossibility that was not their fault.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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