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The State of Bihar v. Baliram Singh

Civil Appeal · 2018 INSC 1010Decided 29 Oct 2018
Civil Appeal No. 10806 of 2018
Justice A.M. Khanwilkar · Justice L. Nageswara Rao

Background

The respondents had worked as Adult Education Supervisors under a temporary state scheme in Bihar from the early 1980s until their posts were abolished in 1991. After prolonged litigation over their termination, they were eventually given fresh appointment letters in 2007, but separately sought salary and continuity of service for the intervening gap period (October 2001 to July 2007) during which they were not working. The High Court, both at the single-judge and division-bench level, had ruled in their favour and directed the State to pay salary for that gap period; the State of Bihar appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the respondents had never actually challenged the order terminating their earlier employment (effective April 2001), and that this termination had attained finality since they accepted fresh employment in 2007 on its own terms. Because reinstatement and back-wages are normally granted only where the termination itself was challenged and set aside, the Court found the comparisons the respondents drew to other, factually different cases (where termination orders had indeed been quashed) to be inapplicable. On an overall view, the Court held the respondents were not entitled to salary or service continuity for a period during which they were not in employment and had not challenged their termination. The High Court's judgment was set aside, the original writ petition was dismissed, and the State's appeal was allowed.

Lesson Learnt

An employee seeking back-wages or continuity of service for a gap period in employment must have actually challenged and had their termination order set aside; simply pointing to other employees who received such relief (where their terminations were separately quashed) is not enough to claim the same benefit.

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

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