Chander Mohan Negi & Ors. v. State of Himachal Pradesh & Ors.
Background
Between 2001 and 2003, the Himachal Pradesh government framed special schemes to appoint Primary Assistant Teachers, Para Teachers, and Gram Vidya Upasaks to fill vacancies in remote and difficult terrain where qualified candidates were not available. Years later, in 2012-13, a few individuals who had themselves only become qualified in 2011 filed writ petitions alleging these appointments were illegal "back-door" entries and sought fresh recruitment under the normal rules. The High Court's Division Bench had ruled in favour of the State and the appointed teachers, dismissing the writ petitions; the appellants (the petitioners before the High Court) challenged this before the Supreme Court.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals, holding that the writ petitions had been filed with inordinate and unexplained delay, 10 years or more after the appointments were made, and could not be treated as public interest litigation when filed to serve the petitioners' own employment interest. The Court noted that the appointed teachers, who were not even made parties to the original petitions, had by then rendered about 15 years of service and had acquired the professional qualifications required, so their appointments, even if made under special emergency schemes, could not be treated as illegal and could not be disturbed at this late stage.
Lesson Learnt
Courts will not ordinarily disturb long-standing government appointments, especially ones made to fill genuine vacancies in difficult areas, when the challenge is brought many years late by parties who stand to personally benefit, particularly once the appointees have gained the requisite qualifications and put in long years of service.