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Rajendra Kumar Shrivas vs The State of Madhya Pradesh (Civil Appeal No. 1514 of 2023)

Civil Appeal · 2023 INSC 211Decided 13 Mar 2023
Civil Appeal No. 1514 of 2023
M.R. Shah · C.T. Ravikumar

Background

Following the Supreme Court's earlier ruling in All India Judges' Association v. Union of India (2010), all High Courts were directed to fill judicial posts using a fixed formula: 25% direct recruitment from the Bar, 65% by regular promotion, and 10% by limited departmental competitive examination, with Service Rules to be amended accordingly from 1.1.2011. The appellant, a suspended and later compulsorily retired judicial officer, filed a writ petition alleging the Madhya Pradesh High Court had exceeded the 10% quota for limited departmental competitive examination appointments since 2007, and sought cancellation of the excess appointments. The High Court dismissed the petition, treating it (incorrectly, in the Supreme Court's view) as merely a request for a writ of quo warranto.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the matter on merits itself rather than remanding it. It confirmed that only 10% of judicial posts could be filled by limited departmental competitive examination from 1.1.2011 onward, and found that in 2017, out of 740 sanctioned posts, appointments had indeed exceeded the 10% cap (78 posts filled against an entitlement of 74, followed by 5 more). However, it held that no relief could be granted by cancelling the excess appointments themselves, since the already-selected and appointed candidates were not made parties to the case. Instead, it directed the Madhya Pradesh High Court to correct the imbalance going forward by adjusting any excess appointments against future recruitment cycles.

Lesson Learnt

Even where a governmental or judicial body has genuinely breached a court-mandated recruitment quota, a court will not undo appointments already made to real people who were never given a chance to defend their selection: the fairer remedy is a forward-looking correction rather than retroactively cancelling someone's job.

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

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