In a courtroom saga that echoed with legal fervor, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict cloaked in dissent concerning the contentious appointment of Shiksha Karmis in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The stage was set for a legal duel as the appellants, represented by a formidable legal arsenal, squared off against the backdrop of the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s Division Bench ruling, which had thrust their appointments under a cloud of scrutiny due to alleged cozy ties with the selection committee.
Amidst the solemnity of justice, the Bench, helmed by Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan, stood polarized in their adjudication.
Justice JK Maheshwari, with a stern gaze reflective of his legal acumen, upheld the High Court’s edict, deeming the appellants’ appointments tainted by the brush of bias. In his resolute opinion, the non-inclusion of the appellants in the legal melee at the outset was dismissed as a superfluous formality, casting a shadow over the appellants’ plea for a fair hearing.
“In the labyrinth of facts presented before us, the initial limb of natural justice, the ‘rule against bias’, stood affirmed, unequivocally establishing a reasonable apprehension of bias. The clamor for the breach of the second limb, audi alteram partem, merely on grounds of non-joinder at the outset, fails to pierce the veil of natural justice in the present discourse,” Justice JK Maheshwari intoned with judicial finality.
Contrary to this legal doctrine, Justice KV Viswanathan, with a measured voice resonating with empathy, championed the cause of procedural fairness. In his dissenting cadence, he lambasted the omission of the appellants from the legal spectacle, decrying it as a denial of justice in its purest form.
“It is a truism ingrained in the annals of our jurisprudence that in matters of service, the right to defend one’s honor is sacrosanct. In a scenario such as ours, where the clarion call is against a mere fraction of candidates, each accused must be afforded the dignity of defense, a right fundamental to our legal ethos,” Justice KV Viswanathan opined, his words etched with a fervor for justice.
With the gavel poised between two starkly opposing narratives, the court, grappling with the chasm of discord, deemed it fit to seek solace in the wisdom of a larger bench. Pending this judicial pilgrimage, the interim order cast its long shadow over the fate of the Shiksha Karmis in Madhya Pradesh.
And so, as the legal titans retreated to their chambers, the specter of justice lingered in the air, awaiting its final reckoning amidst the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court.
