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The State of Rajasthan v. Namonarayan Sharma & Ors.

Not available · 2026 INSC 179Decided 28 Jan 2026
Not available
Justice J.K. Maheshwari · Justice Atul S. Chandurkar

Background

A decade-long chain of litigation over revised answer keys in a 2012 teacher-recruitment exam left categories of candidates displaced or newly eligible; the State had formally adopted (via a 2017 resolution) a formula to fill remaining vacancies with higher-scoring left-out candidates.

Decision Breakdown

Since the State never challenged its own adopted formula and confirmed thousands of vacancies remained, the Supreme Court ordered appointment of the remaining eligible candidates within a set timeline, with salary from the date of joining and seniority fixed by the revised merit list, but confined relief only to candidates already party to the case.

Lesson Learnt

Once a government formally adopts a method for resolving a recruitment dispute, it cannot later resist applying it, but courts can also draw a firm line limiting relief to those who joined the litigation in time.

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

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