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Gajanan Babulal Bansode & Ors. v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 63Decided 5 Feb 2021
Civil Appeal No. 104 of 2021
Justice L. Nageswara Rao · Justice Indu Malhotra · Justice Vineet Saran

Background

The Maharashtra government had notified 828 vacancies for promotion to Police Sub-Inspector through a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE) in 2016, governed by recruitment rules fixing a 25:25:50 ratio between promotion, limited departmental exam, and direct recruitment. In 2019, the government issued a resolution to additionally accommodate 636 more candidates who had cleared the same exam, without consulting the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) as required by the Constitution and without following the rules' quota ratio. In-service police constables challenged this resolution, arguing it would unfairly curtail their own future promotion prospects, but the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal and the Bombay High Court both ruled against them and allowed the process to continue.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the government's 2019 resolution was issued without the mandatory prior consultation with the MPSC, and that filling double the originally notified vacancies violated the constitutional guarantee of equal opportunity in public employment. It rejected each of the Tribunal's reasons for vacating the earlier stay as unjustified, restored the stay on the government resolution, set aside the Tribunal's and High Court's orders, and directed the Tribunal to decide all connected cases together within six months, after giving the 636 affected candidates notice to participate.

Lesson Learnt

Government decisions that bypass a constitutionally mandated consultation process (such as with a Public Service Commission) or exceed advertised recruitment numbers can be struck down, because public employment opportunities must be filled transparently and strictly within the rules originally notified.

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

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