The Madhya Pradesh High Court has said that it took the Centre nearly five decades to realise that an “internationally renowned” organisation like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was wrongly placed on the list of organisations banned for government employees.

The HC’s remark came on Thursday while a bench of Justices Sushruta Arvind Dharmadhikari and Gajendra Singh disposed of the writ petition of retired Central government employee Purushottam Gupta.

Gupta had filed a petition in the High Court on September 19 last year challenging the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules as well as the office memorandums of the Centre that were preventing the participation of government employees in the activities of the RSS.

“The court laments the fact that it took almost five decades for the Central government to realise its mistake; to acknowledge that an internationally renowned organisation like RSS was wrongly placed amongst the banned organisations of the country and that its removal therefrom is quintessential," the bench said.

“Aspirations of many Central government employees of serving the countries in many ways, therefore, got diminished in these five decades because of this ban, which got removed only when it was brought to the notice of this court vide the present proceedings,” the HC said.

The bench referred to the absence of any reply filed by the Union government to the “said effect (despite being inquired again and again)”.

The court said it was compelled to believe that perhaps there was never any material, study, survey or report at the relevant point of time that made the ruling dispensation conclude that involvement and engagement of central government employees even with the "apolitical/non political activities of RSS" must be banned for maintaining India’s “communal fabric and secular character”.

The court also cited different judicial precedents in the backdrop of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules.

“The coalesce of the aforequoted judgements is that whilst spelling out 'misconduct' under Rule 5 of the CCS Rules, 1964, the Central Government cannot behave as 'be all and above all',” the court said.

The discretion to classify any organisation as a “don’t join” organisation for Central government employees must therefore be clearly informed by rules of reasons, fair play and justice, not according to subjective opinions of those in power, the court said.

It should be guided by law and not “humour or preconceived prejudice against such nationally and internationally famed organisation”, the judges said.

“Therefore, once the government has decided and taken a conscious decision to review and remove the name of RSS from the litany of banned organisations, then its continuation shouldn’t be dependent only on the vagaries, mercy and pleasure of the government of the day,” the court said.

The bench directed the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training and the Ministry of Home Affairs to publicly display on the home page of their official website the July 9 office memorandum through which the ban on government employees from joining Sangh activities was lifted.

“This is to ensure public knowledge and information about the issuance of the said circular/ OM. Besides the above, within 15 days of the judgement of this Court, the circular /OM dated 9th July, 2024 is also directed to be transmitted to all the departments and undertakings of the Central Government across India,” the HC added.

Speaking to PTI, Indore-based petitioner Gupta, who retired from the Central Warehousing Corporation in 2022, said, “I am happy with the Centre's decision to lift the ban on participation of government employees in Sangh activities. It will now become easier for thousands of people like me to join the RSS.” PTI HWP MAS BNM NR