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S.C. Singh v. State of Uttarakhand & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 1155Decided 5 Dec 2018
Civil Appeal No. 11856 of 2018
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud

Background

The appellant was appointed in 1992, through open selection, as Director of the College Development Council (CDC) at a university in Uttarakhand, a post created under UGC guidelines that fixed its tenure at three years, extendable for one further three-year term. After he completed two full three-year terms, the University's Executive Council passed a resolution abolishing the CDC altogether; the appellant challenged this before the Uttarakhand High Court. The High Court quashed the University's resolution to the extent it abolished the CDC itself but held that the appellant, having already served two full terms, could not continue as its Director, leaving the Council to continue under someone else.

Decision Breakdown

Before the Supreme Court, the appellant argued that the three-year tenure cap in the UGC guidelines applied only to Directors appointed "on deputation," not to directly/permanently appointed Directors like himself. The Court rejected this reading of the guideline's wording, holding that the tenure limitation applied to every person appointed to the post regardless of whether they were on deputation, and that the advertisement under which the appellant himself was selected had expressly stated the post's tenure was three years. Since the appellant had admittedly already served two such terms, the Court agreed with the High Court that he could not continue as Director, and dismissed the appeal (and the connected contempt petition, which no longer survived once the appeal failed).

Lesson Learnt

A tenure cap written into a post's governing rules or guidelines binds every holder of that post, not just those appointed on deputation, and courts will read such a limiting clause in the context of the appointment advertisement that put the appointee on notice of it.

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

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