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Priya B.M. v. Kerala Public Service Commission and Ors.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5212 of 2017)Decided 13 Apr 2017
Civil Appeal No. 5212 of 2017
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice R. Banumathi

Background

The appellant, ranked 23 in a selection rank list dated 14.06.2011, was denied relief by the Administrative Tribunal and the High Court, which relied on an earlier Supreme Court order confining relief to the specific parties in a different case (Swapna Sukumar). However, both forums overlooked that another candidate on the very same rank list, ranked lower at No. 25, had already been granted similar relief by the Supreme Court in a separate case (Abokare K.) in 2015.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court granted leave and set aside the judgments of both the High Court and the Administrative Tribunal. It held that, given a similarly or even less favourably ranked candidate from the same list had already secured relief, the appellant was entitled to the same treatment. The Court restored the appellant's name in the rank list and directed the authorities to act on it and issue her an appointment order within two months of production of the order, despite acknowledging that the rank list itself had technically expired. The appeal was accordingly disposed of with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

Similarly situated candidates from the same selection list are entitled to consistent treatment; if relief has been granted to one candidate on a list, another equally or more deserving candidate on the same list cannot be denied the same relief merely because of a narrow reading of an earlier order's scope.

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

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