[Service cases] Supreme Court limits High Courts’ ability to intervene in disciplinary actions under Article 226.

In Ex-Const/DVR Mukesh Kumar Raigar v. Union of India and Others, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that High Courts’ ability to intervene in disciplinary decisions made by competent service authorities is constrained by Article 226 of the Constitution.

According to a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi, the High Court can only assess whether the inquiry was conducted by a competent person and whether the natural justice and statutory norms were followed.

In order to establish that the High Court’s authority of judicial review is not an appeal from a decision but a review of the process by which the decision was made, the Court relied on the 1995 judgement in BC Chaturvedi v. Union of India and Others, among other judgements.

This news is written by Ms. Amrita Singh, Research Assistant, All India Legal Forum.