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Mrinmoy Maity vs. Chhanda Koley & Ors.

Not available · 2024 INSC 314Decided 18 Apr 2024
Not available
Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha · Justice Aravind Kumar

Background

In 2012, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) advertised for an LPG distributorship at Jamalpur, West Bengal, and after a draw of lots among eligible applicants in 2013, the appellant was selected and formally approved as distributor in June 2014. In 2017, nearly four years after losing the draw of lots, the unsuccessful rival applicant (respondent no. 1) complained that the appellant's land was ineligible and filed a writ petition after the Corporation permitted the appellant to substitute alternate land for the godown and showroom. The Single Judge dismissed her writ petition for lack of standing, but a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court reversed this and set aside the appellant's entire allotment, prompting the appellant's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the writ petition should have been dismissed outright on the ground of delay and laches, since the respondent had known about the appellant's selection since 2014 but waited until 2017, after the alternate land was approved, to challenge it, effectively sleeping on her rights and allowing the situation to change in the meantime. The Court reiterated settled law that inordinate, unexplained delay in invoking writ jurisdiction defeats equity and that courts should not assist litigants who "sleep and rise like a phoenix" only when it suits them. It also found no legal error in the Corporation's decision to accept the appellant's alternate land under revised, more flexible guidelines issued in 2015, deferring to the expert body's judgment. The Court therefore set aside the Division Bench's ruling and restored the Single Judge's dismissal of the writ petition, allowing the appellant's distributorship to stand.

Lesson Learnt

A person cannot wait years to challenge a decision that adversely affects them, especially after benefiting from silence while the other party invested time and resources. Courts will generally refuse relief to those who unreasonably delay in asserting their legal rights, even where an underlying grievance may otherwise have some merit.

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

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