B.H. Khawas v. Union of India & Others
Background
B.H. Khawas was appointed "Chemical Examiner Grade-I" in the Customs and Central Excise Department in 1995 against a post reserved for Scheduled Tribes, with his appointment letter expressly stating the appointment was provisional pending verification of his "Halba" Scheduled Tribe caste certificate. A Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee ultimately found he actually belonged to the "Koshti" caste, which is not a recognised Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra, and his service was terminated in 2004. The Central Administrative Tribunal initially ordered his reinstatement relying on a Supreme Court ruling (Milind's case) protecting appointments that had become final before that decision, but the Bombay High Court reversed the Tribunal and restored the termination, prompting this appeal.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the protection given in Milind's case and later rulings (Kavita Solunke, Shalini, Unnikrishnan) applies only to appointments that had already become final/confirmed before the caste-claim issue was raised, not to appointments, like Khawas's, that were explicitly provisional and subject to caste verification from the outset. Since his appointment as Chemical Examiner was never confirmed and remained conditional on verification, and the Scrutiny Committee's finding against him had itself attained finality (unchallenged further), the Court held he was not entitled to the benefit of those precedents. It accordingly upheld the High Court's restoration of the termination order and dismissed the appeal with no order as to costs.
Lesson Learnt
A government appointment expressly made "provisional" and conditional on verification of an eligibility document (such as a caste certificate) does not acquire the same protection as a confirmed appointment: if the verification later goes against the employee, the provisional appointment can be lawfully terminated even years later, regardless of the employee's good faith in obtaining the original certificate.