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Union of India & Anr. v. S.N. Maity & Anr.

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 5983 of 2007)Decided 6 Jan 2015
Civil Appeal No. 5983 of 2007
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

Dr. S.N. Maity, a scientist, was selected through a full UPSC process and appointed on a five-year tenure basis as Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks (CGPDTM). After only about one year, the Government repatriated him to his parent department without giving any reason. He challenged this before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which dismissed his case, but the Jharkhand High Court later set aside the repatriation and ordered his reinstatement, prompting the Union of India to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the High Court that this was not an ordinary "deputation" that could be ended at the employer's whim: it was a tenure appointment made through open selection, and curtailing it without any stated reason was arbitrary and fell foul of Article 14. However, the Court found that reinstating Dr. Maity after roughly six years, when his original five-year tenure had long expired and another person held the post, would create an unworkable situation. Instead, it "moulded the relief": it declined reinstatement but directed that he be paid the full salary he would have earned for the CGPDTM post for the remaining tenure period, with 9% interest, while rejecting his separate claim to carry that higher pay scale back into his parent department.

Lesson Learnt

A government employee who wins a finding that their removal was arbitrary is not automatically guaranteed reinstatement: if too much time has passed, courts can instead award full back-pay compensation for the lost tenure as a practical substitute, balancing fairness to the employee against the real-world impossibility of undoing years of changed circumstances.

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

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