SYED HAFIZULLAH Vs. STATE OF J&K

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER seeks the writ of Mandamus commanding the respondents to promote the petitioner as Senior Scale Teacher with effect from 01.09.1975 and frame seniority list on the basis of the said promotion and also to promote the petitioner further to the post of Headmaster.

(2.) PETITIONER was appointed as teacher, in the year 1975 the respondents made some promotions to the post of Postgraduate teachers in the grade of 250 -700. He is seeking relief of promotion being similarly situated from the year 1975 by means of this writ petition.

(3.) MR . Qadiri, learned Senior Additional Advocate General, appearing for respondents, has submitted that this writ petition deserves to be dismissed as the petitioner has not explained the delay and latches. In support of his plea he has relied on the judgment of the Supreme Court delivered in P.S. Sadasivaswamy vs. State of T.N. reported in AIR 1974 SC 2271 wherein the petitioner challenged the promotion after 14 years and dealing with the plea of delay and latches the Supreme Court held as under: - "Where a government servant slept over the promotions of his juniors over his head for fourteen years and then approached the High Court with writ petition challenging the relaxation of relevant rules in favour of the juniors, the writ petition is liable to be dismissed in limine. Such an aggrieved person should approach the court at least within six months or at the most a year of promotion of his juniors. It is not that there is any period of limitation for the courts to exercise their powers under Art. 226, nor is it that there can never be a case where the courts cannot interfere in a matter after the passage of a certain length of time. But it would be a sound and wise exercise of discretion for the courts to refuse to exercise their extraordinary powers under Art. 226 in the case of persons who do not approach it expeditiously for relief and who stand by and allow things to hap pen and then approach the court to put forward stale claims and try to unsettle settled matters."