S. C. Agrawal, J. - (1.) Special leave granted.
(2.) This appeal against the judgment of the Delhi High Court dated November 10, 1995 in Civil Appeal No. 4915 of 1995 relates to promotion from the rank of Major General to the rank of Lieutenant General in the Army.
(3.) The personnel in the Army fall in two broad categories, namely, General Cadre consisting of Infantary, Mechanised Infantary and Armoured corps, and Non-General Cadre consisting of Artillery, Engineers, Signals, Army Ordinance Corps, Army Service Corps and Electrical Mechanical Corps. The appointment within the corps or the service is known as 'Corps Appointment'which may be on the command side or staff side within the corps or the service. Apart from Corps Appointments, appointments are also made outside the corps/service on the staff side which are called 'Staff Appointments'. Till September 9, 1986 officers in the Non-General Cadre could be promoted to the rank of Lt.Gen. in their respective Corps/ Service Appointments only. By circular dated September 9, 1986 issued by the Military Secretary at the Army Headquarters it was decided to adopt the "Two Stream Concept' for officers of the rank of Brigadier and above. The said concept envisages that the officers on promotion to the rank of Maj. Gen. and Lt. Gen. will be bifurcated into the 'Command and Staff' stream and the 'Staff Only' stream. Non-General Cadre officers could also be considered for the 'Staff Only' stream in the rank of Lt. Gen. The following provision was made in this regard for Non-General Cadre officers in the said circular:- Non-General Cadre Officers" 6. High calibre officers in the rank of Brig. from other Arms and Services who are considered fit for promotion to the next higher rank within their own Corps, will be screened for holding unspecified Staff/ERE appointments on first promotion. If selected to hold unspecified appointments outside their Corps, such officers may be promoted to the higher rank of Staff/ERE appointments outside their Corps ahead of officers senior to them in the same batch. These officers will be exercised in criteria appointments within their Corps subsequently prior to selection for the next higher rank. Methodology of Streaming 7. With the introduction of Stream Concept, the methodology of screening officers for promotion will also undergo a change. Based on the QRs. prescribed from time to time, officers will first be screened to assess their suitability for promotion to the higher ranks. Those considered fit will be subjected to another screening for bifurcation into the 'Two Streams'. Officers with higher command potential will be inducted into the 'Command and Staff' Stream while others to the 'Staff Only' Stream. 8. Non-General Cadre officers of high calibre will also be screened based on the prescribed criteria for induction into the 'Staff Only' Stream in the rank of Lt. Gen. Screening of Non-General Cadre in the Rank of Brig. will be as mentioned earlier in Para 6 above." ;