Krishnadatt Awasthy vs. State Of M. P. . Principal Secretary

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Civil Appeal No(s). 4806/2011

KRISHNADATT AWASTHY Appellant(s)

VERSUS

STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ORS. Respondent(s)

WITH

C.A. No. 4807/2011 (IV-C) C.A. No. 4808/2011 (IV-C) C.A. No. 4809/2011 (IV-C)

Date : 04-04-2024 These appeals were called on for pronouncement of Judgment today.

For Appellant(s)	Mr. Neeraj Shekhar, AOR<br>Mr. Amrendra Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Kartik Kumr, Adv.<br>Mr. Ram Bachan Choudhary, Adv.<br>Mr. Chandra Pratap, Adv.<br>Mr. Ashutosh Srivastav, Adv.<br>Mr. Kartik Kumar, Adv.<br>Mrs. Kshama Sharma, Adv.<br>Mr. Niranjan Swami, Adv.<br>Mrs. Priya Parmar, Adv.<br>Mr. Rajesh Maurya, Adv.
For Respondent(s)	Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR<br>Mr. Saurabh Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Divyansh Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Avdhesh Kumar Singh, Adv.<br>Mr. Sanjay Kumar Visen, AOR<br>Mr. Rajendra Kumar, Adv.<br>Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv.<br>Mr. Chandan Kumar, Adv.<br>Ms. Preeti Kumari, Adv.<br>Mr. Parth Sarathi, Adv.

Hon'ble Mr. Justice J. K. Maheshwari pronounced His Lordship's

reportable Judgment of the Bench comprising His Lordship and Digitally signed by Jayant Kumar Arora Date: 2024.04.06 13:26:16 IST Reason: Signature Not Verified

Hon'ble Mr. Justice K. V. Viswanathan.

The operative portion of the Judgment is reproduced hereunder :

"48. Circling back to the facts of the instant case, when the hindsight a reasonable man looks at the action of appellants of not controverting their relationship with the parties and not demonstrating the manner in which they have been prejudiced before the revisional authority and Learned Single Judge Bench and Learned Division Bench of High Court, one would not be hesitant to hold that their representation before the collector would not have improved their case or compelled the collector to arrive at a different finding. Hence, in such a scenario, the plea of nonimpleadment is a useless formality and the court should not entangle itself in procedural complexities.

49. In view of the principle of prejudice as carved out in the aforesaid judicial precedents and in the facts of this case, in my considered view the judgment passed by the learned Single Judge as confirmed in writ appeal reaffirming the judgment of the Collector and Commissioner, setting aside the selection of the appellants does not suffer from any infirmity, warranting the scope of interference of this Court in exercise of power under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. Accordingly, the appeals filed by the appellants stand dismissed affirming the order(s) impugned."

Thereafter, Hon'ble Mr. Justice K. V. Viswanathan pronounced His Lordship's separate and dissenting Judgment. The operative portion of the Judgment is reproduced hereunder :

"76. Approaching the home stretch, one question still remains:- Whether at this distance of time should the matter be remitted back to the Collector for a fresh enquiry? The selection is of the year 1998. By virtue of interim orders through out, the appellants have functioned in office and are discharging their duties for the past more than twenty five years. One of them has even superannuated. At this distance of time, it will not be in the interest of justice to remand the matter for a fresh enquiry.

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77. In view of the above, the appeals are allowed. The judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court passed in the writ appeals are set aside. The result would be that the appeal filed by Respondent No.4 Archana Mishra before the Collector, Chhatarpur, would stand dismissed. The appellants would be entitled to continue in service, deeming their appointments as valid and would be entitled to all service benefits. No order as to costs."

In view of the divergent views expressed by us in the aforesaid appeals, the Registry is directed to place the matter before Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India for constitution of a larger Bench. In the meantime, interim order passed earlier shall remain in operation.

Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, is/are disposed of.

(JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (VIRENDER SINGH) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS BRANCH OFFICER

(Two signed reportable Judgments and one signed order are placed on the file)

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