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Mukul Kumar Tyagi vs. The State of Uttar Pradesh and Others

Not available · 2024 INSC 832Decided 5 Nov 2024
Not available
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice K.V. Viswanathan

Background

The applicants were selected in 2015 for Technician Grade-II posts in the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation after holding a valid computer certificate (CCC) at the time of their interview. Following prolonged litigation over whether candidates needed the certificate by the application deadline or merely by the interview date, their appointments were terminated in 2018 based on a misreading of an earlier Supreme Court judgment in their own favour (2019 INSC 1380). They filed fresh applications asking the Court to clarify and enforce its earlier ruling.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court found that its 2019 judgment had already clarified that candidates possessing the CCC certificate from the recognized body (DOEACC/NIELIT) at the time of interview were not affected by the High Court's original order, and that the employer-corporation had misinterpreted that ruling when it terminated these employees. Exercising its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice, the Court directed that all applicants who held the certificate at interview time be reinstated immediately, with continuity of service and consequential benefits (though without back wages for the period they were out of work).

Lesson Learnt

When a government body misreads or misapplies a court's own judgment to terminate employees who were actually protected by it, the Supreme Court can step in years later using its special constitutional powers to correct the injustice and restore the affected employees to their rightful positions.

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

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