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Wahab Uddin v. Km. Meenakshi Gahlot

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 726Decided 13 Nov 2021
Civil Appeal No. 6477 of 2021
Justice M.R. Shah · Justice A.S. Bopanna

Background

In the Moradabad judgeship, the appellants were given a one-month temporary appointment in 1987 against leave vacancies for the post of Hindi Stenographer, with their appointment letters expressly stating they would end once the regular staff returned. A fresh, proper selection exam was held in 1988 and the respondents were selected on merit. Years later in 1990, despite the appellants having failed the mandatory typing speed test for the post, the District Judge, Moradabad appointed them to the substantive post anyway and terminated the validly selected respondents, who then challenged this before the High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's rulings quashing the appellants' appointment and restoring the respondents, holding that the appellants' original temporary appointment had already expired, they had failed the required speed test, and they had never gone through a valid selection process, unlike the respondents, who had been duly selected through fair competition. The Court rejected the argument that roughly three decades of continued service by the appellants (largely due to pending litigation) should protect their jobs, noting two people cannot occupy one sanctioned post and that benefiting from an illegal appointment does not create a right to keep it. The appeal was dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

Having worked in a government post for many years does not cure a fundamentally illegal or unqualified appointment: if the selection itself was invalid, long service alone will not protect the job against the claim of a validly and fairly selected candidate.

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

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