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Paras Ram & Ors. v. The State of Haryana & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 835Decided 19 Sept 2018
Civil Appeal No. 7501 of 2011
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul

Background

The case concerned the selection and appointment of 1,248 Patwaris (village-level land record officers) in Haryana, a process that began back in 1992. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set aside that selection in 2005 but allowed everyone to compete again in a fresh selection with age relaxation. A separate group of similarly situated candidates had taken the same issue to the Supreme Court, which in 2007 (in Ram Avtar Patwari vs State of Haryana) sent the whole matter back to the High Court for fresh consideration; the High Court then re-decided the matter in 2009, allowing the originally selected 1,248 Patwaris to continue in their posts while giving others the chance to compete in subsequent fresh selections. The appellants in this case, who had separately challenged the original 2005 High Court judgment, argued their cases should still be decided independently.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court rejected the appellants' argument that their claims needed separate consideration, holding that the 2005 judgment they were challenging had already been overturned and superseded by the Supreme Court's own 2007 ruling, followed by the High Court's fresh 2009 decision, which was never itself challenged. Given that the selection dispute originated all the way back in 1992 and two further selection rounds had already taken place in the interim, the Court held that this protracted litigation needed to be brought to a final close ("given a quietus"), endorsing the pragmatic approach the High Court had taken in 2009. The appeals were accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will decline to reopen settled service-selection disputes that have already been remanded and conclusively re-decided through proper channels, especially where a recruitment dispute has dragged on for decades and intervening selections have already taken place: at some point litigation over a stale appointment process must end.

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

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