Summary
The Supreme Court set aside service protection granted after invalidation of an employee’s Scheduled Tribe claim. The High Court had relied on Arun Sonone, overruled by the binding three-judge decision in Jagdish Balaram Bahira. Later two-judge decisions protected matters already finally resolved and did not create a contrary general rule. Administrative circulars invoking those decisions had to be confined accordingly and could not override the governing law.
Issues
- Whether later decisions and government circulars justified protecting service where the invalid caste claim and protection issue had not attained prior finality.
Held
- Jagdish Balaram Bahira governed withdrawal of benefits obtained through an invalid claim to the reserved category. Withdrawal of civil benefits did not depend on proving the intent needed for criminal prosecution, and the contrary Full Bench protection in Arun Sonone could not stand. (¶¶ 7, 8, 9)
- Barapatre and Nimje addressed the peculiar history of earlier judgments that had already attained finality, including dismissal of challenges and review proceedings. Those two-judge decisions did not depart from the binding three-judge rule. (¶¶ 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- The 2019 government circulars had to be construed as confined to those peculiar circumstances. An executive instruction could not override constitutional or statutory norms and the governing precedent to protect an ineligible reserved-category claim. (¶¶ 10, 16)
- The respondent’s service-protection dispute had not attained finality before the governing decision, and the High Court’s sole reliance on the overruled Full Bench judgment was therefore unsustainable. (¶ 17)
Result
Employer’s appeal allowed; High Court judgment set aside and the employee’s writ petition dismissed. No order as to costs.