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State of Tripura v. Arabinda Chakraborty

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 1322 of 2007)Decided 21 Apr 2014
Civil Appeal No. 1322 of 2007
Justice Anil R. Dave · Justice Vikramajit Sen

Background

A librarian's first appointment ended after prolonged unauthorised absence, and he later accepted a fresh appointment in 1967. He sought seniority from his original 1964 service through repeated representations and eventually filed a suit in 1979. The lower courts treated the last rejected representation as the starting point for limitation and granted relief.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the State's appeal, set aside the lower-court decisions and dismissed the suit as time-barred. The employee knew that the 1967 order was a fresh appointment and had also seen the later seniority lists reflecting it. Repeated non-statutory representations did not renew the cause of action or extend the filing period. The delayed claim could not obtain continuity from service that had already been terminated.

Lesson Learnt

Repeated letters asking an employer to reconsider a settled decision do not ordinarily restart the time for suing. Pursue a timely legal challenge and distinguish informal representations from a statutory appeal procedure.

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

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