HC dismisses plea to revive PCS (Judicial) appointments

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a plea seeking revival of the PCS (Judicial) appointments that were cancelled more than two decades ago following allegations of irregularities in the recruitment process. The Bench held that a writ petition could not be used to resurrect a cause of action that suffered a “natural death”.

The Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel referred to the legal principle that “no fixed period of limitation is prescribed” for filing a writ petition, but added that “it has to be cognised as to whether the same has been invoked within a reasonable time”.

Making it clear that submitting representations would not revive the dead cause of action, the Bench ruled that “the writ ought to be dismissed or the writ petitioner ought to be non-suited,” in such circumstances on the ground of delay and laches alone.

The petitioners, whose appointments to the PCS (Judicial Branch) in 2002 were cancelled following allegations of a recruitment scam, had approached the HC in 2017 seeking reinstatement after their acquittal in a related criminal case in 2016.

Referring to the perils of delay, the HC observed: “Delay reflects inactivity and inaction on the part of a litigant, a litigant who has forgotten the basic norms, firstly, ‘procrastination is the greatest thief of time’, secondly, law does not permit one to sleep and rise like a phoenix.”

The Bench ruled that extraordinary writ jurisdiction under Article 226 was to be exercised with discretion, and delay and laches were valid grounds for denial of relief even in cases involving claims rooted in fundamental rights.

Punjab