JUDGEMENT
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(1.)Appellant's prayer for issuing a writ of mandamus to the State of Rajasthan to pay compensation on cessation of functioning as Chairman of the abolished Rajasthan Taxation and Tribunal (in short 'the Tribunal') having been turned down by learned single Judge and Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, this appeal has been preferred. As the core question involved is pristinely legal, it is unnecessary to enter into the factual aspects in detail.
(2.)Factual panorama in a nutshell is as follows :
Appellant was appointed as Judicial Member of the Tribunal in terms of notification dated 16-9-1995 issued by the Finance Department (Taxation Division) of the Government of Rajasthan. Appointment of the appellant was made by the Governor in exercise of the powers conferred by Clause (a) of sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the Rajasthan Taxes and Tribunal Act, 1995 (in short 'the Act'). By the notification dated 16-9-1995 referred to above. Chairman and the technical member were also appointed. Subsequently, he was appointed to discharge functions of Chairman of the Tribunal till appointment of regular Chairman. This contingency arose on the previous Chairman attaining the age of 65 years. State Government vide notification dated 27-2-1999 issued an Ordinance No. 1/1999 stayed The Rajasthan Taxation Tribunal (Repeal) Ordinance, 1999 (in short 'the Ordinance'). The same became operative w.e.f. the date of notification i.e. 27-2-1999. By the above Ordinance under Section 5 matters and proceedings pending before Tribunal on the date of commencement of the Ordinance stood automatically transferred to the High Court for disposal. As a consequence of Tribunal being abolished, continuance of appellant as Chairman automatically came to an end. Appellant claimed compensation of Rs. 5,35,648/- with interest @ 15% per annum by filing a writ petition on the ground that his tenure appointment was to continue up to 18-9-2000. Since there was a premature termination of the tenure appointment, claim of compensation for the balance period from the date of termination of the appointment till 18-9-2000 (which according to him was the last date of the period of tenure appointment) was made. The writ application was filed before the Rajasthan High Court at Jaipur Bench. The stand of the appellant before the learned single Judge was that there was a Cabinet decision taken to release salary to the appellant for the balance period which was to be paid. As the tenure of the appellant could not have been curtailed, he was entitled to compensation. By judgment dated 27-9-1999 in SB Civil Writ Petition No. 4379 of 1999 the writ petition was dismissed by learned single Judge. It was noted that the validity of the Ordinance was not challenged. Since the Tribunal itself was abolished and all cases pending before it have been transferred to the High Court, no interference was called for. It was noted that the exact amount of compensation can only be declared by a competent Court after taking evidence of the parties. So far as implementation of the Cabinet decision is concerned, it was noted that the same was a matter of discretion of the Government and it was open to the appellant to make a representation to the concerned authorities. It was not open to the High Court to enforce the Cabinet decision. The matter was carried in appeal before the Division Bench which dismissed the same holding that the learned single Judge has pronounced a well-reasoned judgment and no interference is called for.
(3.)Learned counsel for the appellant primarily took three stands in support of the appeal. Firstly, it was submitted that the decision of the Cabinet was enforceable. In the meeting of the Cabinet four decisions were taken. They related to : (1) Promulgation of Ordinance, (2) repatriation of the Technical Member to his parent department, (3) absorption of the members of the staff and (4) payment of compensation to the appellant. While the first three decisions were implemented; only the last one relating to payment of compensation was not implemented. The stand taken by the State Government cannot partake the character of Government order under Article 166 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (in short 'the Constitution') is not tenable. Secondly, Clause (2) of Article 310 of the Constitution deals with payment of compensation on premature cessation of a tenure appointment on the basis of contract to that effect. Even though there was no contractual prescription for payment of compensation, that has to be taken as inbuilt requirement in the spirit of Clause (2) of Article 310. There has to be interpretation of the provisions for giving effect to constitutional mandates. The decision taken by the Cabinet was in line with the said provision and, therefore, the High Court was not justified in refusing the grant of compensation. Finally, since there has been violation of the legitimate expectation of the appellant to continue till the end of tenure period, by application of the principle of legitimate expectation the State Government was bound to pay compensation irrespective of whether there was any Cabinet decision earlier or not and that would not take any difference. Section 4(b) of the Ordinance also has relevance in that context. Any obligation or liability accrued or incurred under the Act repealed are not be affected by the repeal.