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Vinit Kumar & Ors. v. State of U.P. Through Secretary & Ors.

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026 INSC 997Decided 16 Sept 2026
Writ Petition (C) No. 123 of 2013
Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha · Justice Alok Aradhe

Background

The petitioners were unsuccessful candidates for 2974 Technician Grade-2 (Trainee) Electrical posts advertised by the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) in 2011. After earlier litigation over candidates' DOEACC computer certificates led the High Court to order a revised select list (issued 20.01.2013), the petitioners filed this writ petition directly in the Supreme Court challenging that revised result and appointments, seeking a fresh selection and a CBI investigation into alleged manipulation. The petition had been tagged for years with related Special Leave Petitions, which the Supreme Court had already decided against the challengers in a 2019 judgment (Sanjay K. Dixit v. State of U.P.).

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the writ petition on multiple independent grounds: the petitioners, in an earlier interim order (30.01.2019), had confined their claim to being higher in merit than selected candidates, and this specific claim was rebutted by UPPCL's counter-affidavit (showing petitioners had not met the General Category cut-off) without any reply or rebuttal from the petitioners; some petitioners had also suppressed the material fact that they had earlier filed a similar writ petition in the Allahabad High Court that was already disposed of; the selected candidates had by now worked in these posts for years and could not be disturbed without being heard; and, relying on Constitution Bench precedent (State of West Bengal v. Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights), the Court held a CBI probe cannot be ordered routinely without a foundational FIR or specific allegations against the police, which were absent here.

Lesson Learnt

A writ petitioner must be fully candid about related prior litigation (suppression of material facts alone can defeat a claim), must actually rebut the other side's specific factual defence rather than let it go unanswered, and cannot expect a CBI investigation to be ordered as a matter of course without concrete supporting material.

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

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