Office of Governor and its Secretariat are part of State Government: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court recently ruled that the Governor and its Secretariat are both part of the State Government [Rajnikant Raghuvar Sahai and Ors. vs The State of Rajasthan and Ors.].Justice Mahendar Kumar Goyal said that given our constitutional scheme, it is axiomatic that the office of the Governor is part of the State government and as natural corollary, so is the Secretariat of the Governor."...under our constitutional scheme, a Governor is the Executive Head of the State and all transactions of the State Government are carried out under his authority and name. Thus, it is axiomatic that the office of the Governor is part and parcel of the State Government...Logically, once the Governor is part of the State Government, as a natural corollary, its Secretariat must also be part of the State Government," the Court held..The Court was hearing a challenge to a 2020 order of the Governor of Rajasthan's Secretariat that annulled its 2013 guidelines relaxing reservation quota for promotion of employees in the Governor's office..The petitioners were initially appointed as Class IV employees in the office of the Governor and were later on promoted as Lower Division Clerks (LDC) after being granted relaxation in the reservation quota for promotion via guidelines issued by the Governor's Secretariat in 2013. They were further promoted as Clerk Gr.I on the recommendations of the Departmental Promotion Committee by the Governor's Secretariat via a 2019 order.However, in 2020, the Governor's Secretariat, reckoning the 2013 guidelines as bad in law, annulled them and declared them void, with consequences to follow, which would be reversal of the petitioners to Class-IV employees..The petitioners contended that the Governor Secretariat was an independent office not part of the State government. They challenged the legality and validity of the 2020 order on the ground that since service rules of 1970 were inapplicable to the Secretariat, it framed its own rules to govern service conditions of its staff via the order of 2013, which did not suffer from any illegality. Therefore, they prayed for quashing of the 2020 order..The Court said that the Indian Constitution does not envisage a separate and independent secretarial service attached to a Governor office and that wherever it is so required, specific provisions exist in it. Thus, it concluded that there was no constitutional provision providing for a separate and independent Governor Secretarial Service..Thereafter, it noted that Governors (Allowances and Privileges) Rules of 1987 make provision for a separate Secretarial staff for a Governor which shall be provided by the concerned State Government and the expenditure incurred on it shall be charged on the consolidated fund of the concerned State which shall not form part of the Governor’s allowance.Observing that employees working in the Governor's Secretariat are governed by the Rajasthan Civil Services (CCA) Rules, 1958, and the Secretary to the Governor is the Head of the Department for this purpose, and is the disciplinary authority for the Ministerial cadre employees in the Governor's Secretariat, the Court determined that the officers and staff in the Governor’s Secretariat, who are provided by the State Government, are part of the State Government..Further, regarding the question as to whether the State's rules or independent rules govern the recruitment of staff in the Governor's Secretariat, the Court said that considering that the State is governed by rule of law, public employment has to be governed by rules within the framework of the Constitution and cannot be left to unbridled discretion of any authority. It, therefore, ruled that Rajasthan Subordinate and Ministerial Service Rules, 1999 would prevail..The Court, therefore, quashed and set aside the 2013 guidelines but upheld the 2020 order which annulled the guidelines.The petitioners' promotion to Clerk Gr.I was quashed and set aside. However, the Court said that salary, other emoluments or any other monetary benefits already paid and received by petitioners shall not be recoverable..[Read Judgment]