State of U.P. v. Deep Narain Misra & Ors.
Background
The High Court had passed a judgment directing, among other things, that Respondent No. 1 (Deep Narain Misra) be appointed, and had further directed that the State of U.P. should not make any future appointments without first completing police verification of the candidate. The State appealed to the Supreme Court, with its counsel arguing that requiring police verification to be completed before every appointment was impractical, since such verification takes considerable time and could leave posts unfilled for long periods.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court modified the High Court's judgment, directing that Respondent No. 1 be given a fresh appointment before 1st September 2015, but as a special case and without backwages or seniority. On the broader policy point, the Court agreed that requiring police verification before appointment (rather than after) was impracticable, and set aside that part of the High Court's order, while directing that appointments already made would still remain subject to police verification after the fact. The appeal was allowed with no order as to costs, and the Court expressly clarified that the direction regarding Respondent No. 1's appointment was a one-off special case and should not be treated as a precedent for other matters.
Lesson Learnt
Government appointments can be made subject to police verification carried out after the appointment rather than as a precondition to it, balancing administrative practicality against background-check requirements; special relief granted to one individual in unique circumstances does not automatically become a rule for future cases.