LexSHYAM NANDAN MEHTA versus SANTOSH KUMAR & ORS.
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[2025] 4 S.C.R. 2073 : 2025 INSC 586 Shyam Nandan Mehta v. Santosh Kumar & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 5679 of 2025) 29 April 2025 [Dipankar Datta and Prashant Kumar Mishra,* JJ.] Issue for Consideration Matter pertains to correctness of the order passed by the High Courts declaring the appointment of appellant to be illegal making him liable to be terminated from service forthwith. Headnotes† Service law – Appointment – Recruitment process – Allegation of manipulation in the recruitment process – Appellant appointed to the post of assistant teacher – Two years thereafter, writ petition by first respondent alleging that the appointment of the appellant based on manipulation in TET examination certificate wherein he showed his caste status under Most Backward Class (MBC) category whereas in the selection process he showed himself to be Backward Class (BC) category – Writ petition allowed holding that the first respondent committed manipulation in procuring the TET certificate – Correctness: Held: Instant case is not where there is any allegation against the appellant either by the Academic Council or by recruiting agency that the appellant has fraudulently declared his caste status as ‘MBC’ though he actually belongs to ‘BC’ – Appellant secured more marks than respondent no.1 – He did not obtain any weightage of marks or relaxation by claiming to be belonging to ‘BC’ category which is his actual caste category – Genuineness of his caste certificate is also not questioned – No evidence that the appellant committed any manipulation in the recruitment process – Appellant has not submitted any incorrect information at the time of counselling – Recruiting agency has not cancelled appellant’s appointment on the allegation of submitting incorrect information – It is for the recruiting agency to take action against any candidate if incorrect information is supplied – Same cannot be made a foundation for allowing the writ petition when the said information does not affect * Author 2074 [2025] 4 S.C.R. Supreme Court Reports the candidate’s eligibility to appear in the examination – Not a case of submission of false certificates of qualifying examination or a false caste certificate – High Court wrongly set aside the appellant’s appointment – Impugned order set aside. [Paras 10-12] List of Keywords Intermediate Trained Assistant Teacher; Assistant teacher; Manipulation in TET examination certificate; Caste status; Most Backward Class; Backward Class; Manipulation and illegality in the selection process; Manipulation in procuring TET certificate; Illegal appointment; Fraudulently declaring caste status; Genuineness of class certificate; Duty on applicant to provide correct information; Recruiting agency; False caste certificate. Case Arising From CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 5679 of 2025 From the Judgment and Order dated 10.02.2022 of the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi in LPA No. 103 of 2021 Appearances for Parties Advs. for the Appellant: Ajit Kumar Sinha, Sr. Adv., Himanshu Chaubey, Naveen Soni. Advs. for the Respondents: Nikhil Goel, Sr. Adv., Amit Sharma, Ravi Kumar, Yuvraj Nangia, Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi, Jayant Mohan, Ms. Adya Shree Dutta, Jayesh Gaurav, Ishwar Chandra Roy, Ms. Diksha Ojha, Ranjan Nikhil Dharnidhar, Ms. Sangeeta Singh, Amit Pawan, Hassan Zubair Waris, Ms. Aastha Shrestha, Ms. Shivangi Singh Rawat, Suchit Singh Rawat, Kuldeep Mishra. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Judgment Prashant Kumar Mishra, J. Leave granted. 2. The appellant would call in question the impugned judgment dated 10.02.2022 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of [2025] 4 S.C.R. 2075 Shyam Nandan Mehta v. Santosh Kumar & Ors. Jharkhand at Ranchi dismissing his Letter Patent Appeal affirming the order dated 22.02.2021 passed by the learned Single Judge declaring the appointment of the appellant to be illegal making him liable to be terminated from service forthwith and directed the State to conclude the verification of the relevant documents of the concerned for consideration of the writ petitioner’s case for appointment on the post of Assistant Teacher. 3. The issue relates to the appointment on the post of Intermediate Trained Assistant Teacher1 for the district of Palamau consequent to Advertisement No. 03/Palamau/2015 dated 04.07.2015. At the end of selection process, the writ petitioner/respondent no. 1 herein, secured 65.496 marks whereas the ap
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