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Vishal Ashok Thorat & Ors. v. Rajesh Shrirambapu Fate & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 781Decided 19 Jul 2019
Civil Appeal No. 5444 of 2019
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice Navin Sinha

Background

The Maharashtra government framed 2016 recruitment rules for the post of Assistant Inspector of Motor Vehicles and held a competitive examination in which over 69,000 candidates appeared, with a final select list published in 2018. A candidate who had earlier failed to get the initial advertisements themselves struck down then filed a fresh writ petition challenging the 2016 Rules and the resulting select list, framing it in part as a public-interest matter concerning loss to public revenue. The Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) partly allowed this petition, prompting the selected candidates and the State of Maharashtra to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in entertaining the writ petition as if it were a public interest litigation, reiterating settled law that PILs are not a permissible route to agitate what are essentially service-related grievances. Since the petitioner had already been held not entitled to challenge the original recruitment advertisements, the Court found it legally impermissible for the High Court to then strike down the governing Rules and modify the select list on a PIL-like challenge. The Supreme Court allowed the appeals, set aside the High Court's judgment, and dismissed the writ petition, while leaving the substantive questions about the validity of specific Rule provisions open for decision in an appropriate future case. Parties were left to bear their own costs.

Lesson Learnt

Service and recruitment disputes must ordinarily be pursued through proper service-law channels (such as by an affected candidate with direct standing), not dressed up as public interest litigation to get around existing bars on a petitioner's own standing.

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

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