Service Lawyer: Writ petition challenging merit list not maintainable without making selected candidates as party; SC.

Supreme Court of India

Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Navin Sinha

The SC {Vishal Ashok Thorat and others versus Rajesh Shrirambapu Fate and others} holds that the respondent / petitioner could not have challenged the selection list, without making the selected candidates as party in the writ petition. It was held that, without making the selected candidate party in the writ petition, in which challenge is being laid down to the merit list, the writ petition is not maintainable and merits outright dismissal.

In view of the above, it was held by the Supreme Court that in the present case the High Court could not have modified the select list, without the selected candidates whose interest was jeopardised by the order of the High Court being impleaded in the writ petition. As such the writ petition filed is not maintainable without impleading necessary party. Therefore, the appeal was allowed, and the directions issued by the High Court were set aside, and the writ petition filed by the respondent was dismissed. The validity of rules was not gone into by the SC, which were challenged by the respondent, in view of the aforesaid, and the question about validity of the rules was left open.