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State of Uttar Pradesh v. Arvind Kumar Srivastava

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 9849 of 2014)Decided 17 Oct 2014
Civil Appeal No. 9849 of 2014
Justice J. Chelameswar · Justice A.K. Sikri

Background

Appointments to compounder and ward-boy posts were cancelled in 1987. Some candidates successfully pursued their cases, while these respondents let their original suit be dismissed and took no further steps until seeking similar relief years later. The Tribunal and High Court extended the earlier successful litigants' benefit to them.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the State's appeal and set aside that relief. Ordinarily, identically situated employees should receive equal treatment even if all did not litigate earlier. But unexplained delay and acceptance of the adverse decision can justify refusal, particularly where the earlier judgment benefited only its parties. A judgment intended to benefit an entire affected class can stand differently. Here the respondents' long inaction and failure to pursue their earlier suit prevented them from claiming appointments merely because others had succeeded.

Lesson Learnt

A colleague's successful service case does not always revive your own long-abandoned claim. Act promptly and check whether the judgment grants relief to everyone in the affected class or only to the litigants.

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

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