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The State of Rajasthan v. Surji Devi

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 631Decided 7 Oct 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6205 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

Surji Devi's husband, a Gram Sevak, was terminated from government service in December 1996 for prolonged unauthorised absence. He filed a departmental appeal against the termination, but died in 2009 while that appeal was still pending, without pursuing it further. In 2012, about 15 years after the termination, his widow filed a writ petition challenging the termination, and the Rajasthan High Court's single judge quashed it and granted her consequential benefits, a decision the Division Bench upheld.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the writ petition, filed 15 years after the termination (and even after the husband would in any event have reached retirement age), should never have been entertained on its merits, given the long, unexplained delay. Once a court finds a case barred by delay and laches, it should not go on to examine whether the underlying order was actually illegal: the High Court had wrongly done both. The Supreme Court allowed the State's appeal and set aside the orders of both the single judge and the Division Bench.

Lesson Learnt

Even a possibly unlawful government action cannot be challenged in court indefinitely: long, unexplained delay in approaching the court can by itself defeat a claim, regardless of how strong its merits might otherwise have been.

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

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