S.E. Dean vs State of Himachal Pradesh

Ramabhadran, J.C.

The petitioner applied to this Court under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, praying that a writ be issued to the Himachal Pradesh Government directing the re-instatement of the petitioner as junior clerk. That petition was rejected by this Court on 29-6-1955 without issuing notice to the respondent. The petitioner now prays for grant of a certificate to enable her to appeal to the Supreme Court.

I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner. The petition purports to be one under Article 132 of the Constitution. As is obvious from the perusal of that Article, a certificate could be granted only if the case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution.

Learned counsel urged that, in the present case, there arises a question of interpretation of Article 311 of the Constitution. As was pointed out by me in my order of the 29th June last (following--'' Jayanti Prasad Vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh, the petitioner''s services were terminated in accordance with the conditions on which she was appointed to a temporary post.

Consequently, there was no question of dismissal or removal and, therefore, Article 311 had no application. Mr. Prithvi Raj suggested that the present case could be distinguished, because, here, the petitioner was, at first, charge-sheeted, but subsequently her services were terminated without entering a finding against her.

In my opinion, this amounts, at the worst, to a mistake of procedure in the preliminary stages. The fact, however, remains that the petitioner''s services were terminated in accordance/ with the terms of her appointment and learned counsel does not dispute this. Therefore, Article 311 does not come into play at all. Consequently, there is no question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution. The petition fails and is, accordingly, rejected.