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P. Ranjitharaj vs The State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 470Decided 25 Apr 2022
Civil Appeal Nos. 3176-3177 of 2022

Background

The appellants had applied for the post of Assistant Public Prosecutor Grade II pursuant to a 2001 advertisement by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission. While 51 selected candidates (including some ranked below the appellants) were appointed in September 2002, the appellants' names were withheld pending further verification, even though the Commission had already cleared them before the other appointments were made. They were eventually appointed only in 2004 and 2005. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu introduced a new Contributory Pension Scheme effective 1 April 2003, and amended the older, more beneficial Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 to apply only to employees appointed on or before that date. Because of the government's delay in appointing them, the appellants fell on the wrong side of this cutoff and were denied membership of the older 1978 Pension Rules; the High Court upheld this denial.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the appellants had participated in the very same selection process as the other 51 successful candidates and had, in fact, been cleared by the Commission before those other appointments were made: the delay in actually issuing their appointment orders was entirely attributable to the State Government, not to any fault of the appellants. Since candidates ranked below them were appointed and given the older pension scheme's benefits, it was unjust for the appellants to be denied the same benefit purely because of the government's own unexplained delay. The Court set aside the High Court's judgment, allowed the appeals, and directed that the appellants be treated as members of the Tamil Nadu Pension Rules, 1978 for all purposes, including retiral benefits.

Lesson Learnt

Where a government's own unexplained administrative delay pushes an already-selected candidate's appointment past a cutoff date for pension or service benefits, courts will treat the candidate's rights as dating back to the original selection process rather than letting the government's delay work against them.

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

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