No U-Turns After 25 Years Jharkhand High Court Dismisses Challenge to Old Lecturer Appointments:

In a significant ruling for public service law, the Jharkhand High Court has decided that time-bound stability is sometimes more important than procedural perfection. The court has officially refused to interfere with the appointments of lecturers who have been serving for nearly 25 years, even if there were potential gaps in the initial hiring process.

The Case: Arbind Sharan vs. Bihar College Service Commission

The legal battle dates back to a recruitment drive in 1994. The petitioner, Arbind Sharan, challenged the appointment of three physics lecturers at J.M. College, Bhurkunda. Sharan argued that he was better qualified and that the college had bypassed mandatory reservation policies when hiring the three respondents in February 2000.

For over two decades, Sharan moved from one authority to another—from the College Service Commission to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes—seeking to have the appointments quashed.

The Court’s Verdict: No "U-Turn" Allowed

Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, presiding over the case, delivered a judgment that leans heavily on the principle of equity. The court noted that the teachers in question have been working steadily for a quarter of a century.

Key points from the ruling include:

Substantive Equity: The court held that it would be "unjust and inequitable" to remove people who have dedicated 25 years of their lives to an institution.

Finality of Process: Since the Commission had acted on a "plausible view" at the time, the court ruled that reopening the matter now would cause "institutional chaos."

Reservation Clarification: The court also noted that for one of the contested posts, only a single vacancy was advertised, meaning reservation policies did not apply to it in the same way.

The Takeaway

The judgment sends a clear message: while procedural rules are vital, the law will not allow "U-turns" that disrupt decades of settled service. For the lecturers involved, the 2026 ruling brings a final, peaceful end to a legal cloud that has hung over their careers for their entire professional lives.