The Hindu : Front Page : Apex court: no verdict can violate statute

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Sunday, Oct 14, 2007
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Apex court: no verdict can violate statute

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi: The Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and no judgment, even of the Supreme Court, can violate the Constitution, a Bench comprising Justices A.K. Mathur and Markandey Katju said directing regularisation of the services of employees who have put in 22 years as daily wage earners.

A five-judge Constitution Bench in Uma Devi’s case said courts should not give a direction for regularisation of the services of daily/temporary workers as they had not been recruited following the due procedure and recruitment rules.

In the present case, the Uttar Pradesh Electricity Board, citing this judgment, appealed against an Allahabad High Court verdict directing regularisation of the services of 34 daily wage employees, who had been working in the erstwhile Cooperative Electric Supply Society.

Dismissing the appeal, the two-judge Bench said, “The decision in Uma Devi’s case is clearly distinguishable. The said decision cannot be applied to a case where regularisation has been sought in pursuance of Article 14 [equality before law].”

Cut dead wood

Quoting an earlier judgment, the Bench said, “A precedent should be followed only so far as it marks the path of justice, but you must cut the dead wood and trim the side branches, else you will find yourself lost in thickets and branches.”

The judges said, “We are constrained to refer to the above decision and principles contained therein because we find that often Uma Devi’s case is being applied by courts mechanically as if it were Euclid’s formula without seeing the facts of a particular case. In our opinion, Uma Devi’s case cannot be applied mechanically without seeing the facts of a particular case, as a little difference in facts can make Uma Devi’s case inapplicable to the facts of that case.”

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