State Forest Rangers Can Progress Into Indian Forest Service: Supreme Court

Last week, a bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih, while disposing of a civil appeal, declared that Class A members of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Service, including those in categories 2 and 3, constitute members of the State Forest Service (SFS) if they have been substantively appointed. 

The Court also held that such officers should be made eligible for promotion to the IFoS in accordance with the Indian Forest Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1966 and directed that as and when the exercise for filling up vacancies in the IFoS “is initiated afresh, the respondents shall follow all applicable recruitment rules and treat Forest Range Officers of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Service as members of the State Forest Service”. 

Notably, the controversy began when P Maruthi Prasada Rao, who was appointed as a Forest Range Officer (FRO) in 2006 and promoted to Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) in 2020, petitioned that his cadre service should be recognised as part of the SFS. He had contended that exclusion of FROs from the promotion pipeline to IFS violated the equality provisions under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

Following this, in 2022, the Central Administrative Tribunal, Hyderabad, ruled in his favour, directing the state to treat FROs as SFS officers, who should be considered for IFS promotions. But, the Andhra Pradesh High Court overturned the CAT ruling in 2023, holding that FROs were not covered under the SFS definition, since the central government had not expressly approved their inclusion. Now the SC has restored the CAT interpretation. 

The Court, in its order, established that approval under Rule 2(g) of the 1966 Recruitment Rules pertains to the service as a whole, not to individual posts. Since the Andhra Pradesh Forest Service (APFS) includes FROs, ACFs, and Deputy Conservators of Forest (DCFs) in its Class A structure, having gazetted status, they cannot be excluded merely by interpretation.

Churning Within IFoS, FROs Across India

Incidentally, the SC ruling, which addresses a long-pending demand of FROs for parity and career progression, has triggered a debate among IFoS and FROs across India. So far, the promotions to IFoS largely came from ACFs and DCFs, creating a relatively narrow funnel.

With FROs included, hundreds of additional officers will now be eligible to compete for limited IFoS vacancies. This could intensify competition and dilute the prospects of ACFs and DCFs, who had a clear edge in the career progression.

The judgment, though, will not apply retrospectively. The SC acknowledged that since 2015, a number of vacancies have remained unfilled due to the eligibility row. But now senior FROs who meet the criteria are likely to be accommodated in the select lists. 

Even as the verdict directly pertained to Andhra Pradesh, it establishes a precedent to be implemented in other states, where service rules match those of the southern state. If a state government decides in favour of the inclusion of FROs, it could substantially change IFoS cadre recruitment in the country.

A senior IFoS officer said, “The SC ruling on the issue has democratised the induction in the service. FROs provide the backbone of field operations. Recognising their eligibility is long overdue. But their merit and seniority should not be compromised while inducting them.”