''T. S. R. Subramanian versus Union of India and Ors.'', was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India in which the Court ruled that civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives. The case began with a

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefor ...

civil

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

filed before the Supreme Court of India and was decided in October 2013.

Premise

The case was filed as a

civil writ petition by

T. S. R. Subramanian Thirumanilaiyur Sitapati Ramana Subramanian (11 December 1938 – 26 February 2018) was an Indian bureaucrat who served as the cabinet secretary of India from August 1996 to March 1998. He was a 1961 batch Indian Administrative Service officer ...

, retired

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

(IAS) officer and former Cabinet Secretary;

T. S. Krishnamurthy Taruvai Subayya Krishnamurthy (born 1941) is a former Indian Revenue Service officer who served as 13th Chief Election Commissioner of India, Chief Election Commissioner (C.E.C) of India (February 2004 - May 2005). His main assignment as C.E.C w ...

, retired

IAS officer The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

and former Chief Election Commissioner; N. Gopalaswami, retired

and former Chief Election Commissioner;

Abid Hussain Abid Hussain (26 December 1926 21 June 2012) was an Indian economist, civil servant and diplomat. He was India's ambassador to the United States of America from 1990 to 1992 and a member of the Planning Commission from 1985 to 1990. Personal ...

, retired

and former

Indian ambassador to the United States The Indian Ambassador to the United States of America is the chief diplomatic representative of India to the United States, housed in the Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. The current ambassador is Taranjit Singh Sandhu who succeeded Harsh Va ...

; Ved Prakash Marwah, retired

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (I ...

(IPS) officer and former Manipur governor; Joginder Singh, retired

IPS officer The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IA ...

and former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, and 77 others in 2011. It was heard by a

division bench A Division Bench is a term in judicial system in India in which a case is heard and judged by ''at least'' 2 judges. However, if the bench during the hearing of any matter feels that the matter needs to be considered by a larger bench, such a ...

comprising justices

K. S. Panicker Radhakrishnan Justice K. S. Radhakrishna Panicker (born 15 May 1949) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court and Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court. Early life and educ ...

and Pinaki Chandra Ghose from 2011 to 2013. The petitioners were retired top civil servants from—among others—the IAS and the IPS. They sought

mandatory Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...

court injunctions to support the independence of the various

Indian civil services The Civil Services refer to the career government civil servants who are the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India. Elected cabinet ministers determine policy, and civil servants carry it out. Central Civil Servants are employee ...

and their freedom from political interference, by requiring the Indian federal and state governments to implement the recommendations made by several commissions of review (including the Hota Commission): that oral instructions given by politicians to civil servants must be recorded in writing, that senior civil service appointments should be made for a fixed term, and that civil services boards should be established to advise on postings. In addition, politicians in state government were seen to have been transferring civil servants repeatedly.

Judgment

Major rulings in the case included: * Officers of the

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

, other

All India Services The All India Services (AIS) comprises the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service. A unique feature of the All India Services is that the members of these services are recruited by the centre (Union gover ...

and other civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives, as they "undermine credibility". * Establishment of a Civil Services Board (CSB), headed by the Cabinet Secretary at the national level and chief secretaries at the state level, to recommend transfers and postings of All India Services (the Indian Administrative Service, the

Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 und ...

and the Indian Police Service) officers. * *

Reaction

The supreme court decision received a mostly-positive reaction and was considered a "major reform".

Association secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy said, " esupport the judgement. It vindicates our stand. It will help in good governance across the country". According to

Association president A. R. Chadha, the ruling would check arbitrary transfers and suspensions. A

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

secretary-general,

Dharmendra Pradhan Dharmendra Pradhan (; born 26 June 1969) is an Indian politician serving as the Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in the Government of India. He has also been the Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas ...

, said that it would "help bring greater transparency the system". Pradhan added that the "decision should not hamper government functioning, especially development work being carried out by the government". An

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

spokesperson, P. C. Chacko, disagreed: " discharge the responsibilities of the executive effectively, the power of transfer and posting of the officials should be with the government. For effective administration, the discretion should be with the political authority. Any infringement of this authority will not be good for the country,”. The president of the

Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...

tweeted, " the face of it, supreme court is continuing its constitutional usurpation; and many orders are practically unworkable".

References

External links

* * {{Cite court, litigants=T. S. R. Subramanian & Ors. versus Union of India & Ors., court= Supreme Court of India, pinpoint=W. P. (C) No. 82 of 2011, url=https://main.sci.gov.in/jonew/judis/40943.pdf (PDF). Supreme Court of India cases 2013 in case law 2013 in Indian politics Civil service in India