Examine Need For Guidelines For Appointment Of UPSC Chairman And Members: Delhi HC To Centre [Read Judgment]

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to examine the necessity of laying down guidelines for appointment of the Chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission.

The direction was issued by a Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar, in a Petition filed one Mr. Satish Kumar Singh, who had challenged the appointment of Mr. Deepak Gupta as the Chairman of the UPSC. He had challenged the notification issued for Mr. Gupta’s appointment in December, 2014 by the Department of Personnel and Training.

Mr. Singh had submitted that Mr. Gupta was ineligible for appointment to the office as he was not a member of the UPSC. The UPSC, on the other hand, had contended that the challenge to the appointment has become infructuous as Mr. Gupta had retired in September last year.

Accepting that the Petition had, in fact, been rendered infructuous, the Court then considered the prayer for a direction to the Centre to frame executive guidelines laying down the procedure and administrative methods for selection and appointment of the Chairman and other members of the UPSC.

The Centre had, however, opposed this plea, contending that this was within the purview of discharge of legislative functions, and hence, the Court cannot issue a mandamus to this effect.

The Court agreed with the Centre on this count as well, but cited certain Supreme Court judgments to highlight the fact that the matter deserved attention of the Parliamentarians and the quarters concerned in the Government.

“Given the concern expressed in the petition as well as those noted by the Supreme Court in Mehar Singh Saini and Salil Sabhlok, it would be appropriate if the respondent no.4 considers the matter in the right perspective, examines the issues flagged by the petitioner in the light of the above judicial pronouncements and takes an appropriate view in the matter,” it then observed.