Delay and laches are critical in writ proceedings, and a significant delay without reasonable explanation can lead to dismissal of the petition.

JUDGMENT :

(Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J.)

The petitioners have filed the instant petition assailing the selection that was made way back in the year, 2004, as would be evident from the relief claimed in this petition which reads as under:-

(i) That the selection and appointment of the ineligible candidates as per the Inquiry Report, who were wrongly and illegally selected to the post of Transport Multi- Purpose Assistants (Conductors) made in the year 2004 by the respondents, may kindly be quashed and set aside and the respondents No. 1 & 2 may kindly be directed to give appointment to the petitioners to the post of Transport Multi Purpose Assistant (Conductor) from the due date with all consequential benefits. or

In the alternative, the respondents No. 1 & 2 may kindly be directed to give appointment to the petitioners on priority basis against the vacancies of Conductors to be published by the respondents in near future without subjecting the petitioner to face the interview and written examination by granting special relaxation in the age limit, because the petitioners had already qualified the written examination in the year 2003-2004 and thereafter, they were interviewed by the respondent-Corporation, but in order to give the benefit to their near and dear and by adopting the policy of pick & choose, their merit and candidature has been ignored and they were deprived from the appointment.

2. The instant petition has been filed on 26.08.2019, meaning thereby, after an inordinate delay of 15 years.

3. It is more than settled that if a person wants to invoke jurisdiction of a writ court, he should come to the court at the earliest reasonable possible opportunity. An inordinate delay in making the motion for a writ would indeed be a good ground for refusing to exercise such discretionary jurisdiction. The underlying object of this principle is not to encourage agitation of stale claim and exhume matters which have already been disposed of or settled or where the rights of a third party have accrued in the meantime.

4. On the aspect of delay and laches and they reflect on writ proceedings, the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its recent decision in Mrinmoy Matty vs. Chhanda Koley and others, AIR 2024 SC 2717, reiterated the legal position thus:-

9. Having heard rival contentions raised and on perusal of the facts obtained in the present case, we are of the considered view that writ petitioner ought to have been non-suited or in other words writ petition ought to have been dismissed on the ground of delay and laches itself. An applicant who approaches the court belatedly or in other words sleeps over his rights for a considerable period of time, wakes up from his deep slumber ought not to be granted the extraordinary relief by the writ courts. This Court time and again has held that delay defeats equity. Delay or laches is one of the factors which should be born in mind by the High Court while exercising discretionary powers under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. In a given case, the High Court may refuse to invoke its extraordinary powers if laxity on the part of the applicant to assert his right has allowed the cause of action to drift away and attempts are made subsequently to rekindle the lapsed cause of action.

10. The discretion to be exercised would be with care and caution. If the delay which has occasioned in approaching the writ court is explained which would appeal to the conscience of the court, in such circumstances it cannot be gainsaid by the contesting party that for all times to come the delay is not to be condoned. There may be myriad circumstances which gives rise to the invoking of the extraordinary jurisdiction and it all depends on facts and circumstances of each case, same cannot be described in a straight jacket formula with mathematical precision. The ultimate discretion to be exercised by the writ court depends upon the facts that it has to travel or the terrain in which the facts have travelled.

11. For filing of