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Chandrabosh Tripathi v. Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 296Decided 2 Apr 2018
Civil Appeal Nos. 3477-3478 of 2018
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

Chandrabosh Tripathi's application for a compassionate appointment with the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board had been turned down, and he had already lost before the High Court (including in a review petition) before approaching the Supreme Court. The Court was informed that his case was still under consideration on two points, whether he was eligible, and whether vacancies were actually available.

Decision Breakdown

Granting leave, the Supreme Court disposed of the appeals by directing the Board to complete the necessary formalities and pass a formal order on the appellant's claim within three weeks from the date of the judgment. The Court clarified that neither the judgment under appeal nor the order passed in the review petition would stand in the way of the Board considering his case afresh, limiting this relief strictly to the peculiar facts of this case. No order as to costs was made, and all pending applications were disposed of along with the appeal.

Lesson Learnt

Where a compassionate-appointment claim has been left hanging through multiple rounds of litigation, the Supreme Court can set a firm deadline for the authority to take a final decision and can free that fresh consideration from the binding effect of earlier unfavourable orders, without itself ruling on the merits of eligibility.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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