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Union of India & Ors. vs. Bhagwan Deen & Anr.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 392Decided 5 Apr 2022
Civil Appeal No. 2720 of 2022
Uday Umesh Lalit · S. Ravindra Bhat · Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha

Background

The respondents had obtained a favourable order from the Central Administrative Tribunal based on the Railways' LARSGESS Scheme (a scheme that allowed a dependent of a retiring railway employee to be absorbed in service in lieu of the employee getting a promotional upgrade). The Delhi High Court had dismissed the Union of India's challenge to that Tribunal order. Separately, the Punjab & Haryana High Court had criticised the same Scheme in another case, the Supreme Court had dismissed the challenge to that criticism, and the Railways had since terminated the Scheme entirely in 2019.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court noted that it had, in a series of other cases, consistently refused to recognise any enforceable right arising from the LARSGESS Scheme, which itself had been scrapped by the government. Viewed against that consistent line of rulings, the Tribunal and the Delhi High Court were wrong to grant relief based on the Scheme in this case. The Court allowed the Union of India's appeal, set aside the Tribunal's and High Court's orders, and dismissed the original application, while also directing that the cost of the Union's delay in filing be recovered from the officials responsible for the delay, not the public exchequer.

Lesson Learnt

Once a government scheme has been withdrawn and the Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to recognise any right flowing from it, lower tribunals and High Courts cannot keep granting relief under that scheme in later, similar cases: settled precedent must be followed consistently.

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

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