Wrong acts can't be cited as precedents, rules apex court

New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) The Supreme Court has held that an illegal or irregular act of the government extending certain benefits to one person cannot become a precedent entitling someone else to claim similar benefits.

"If someone has been wrongly extended a benefit, that cannot be cited as a precedent for claiming similar benefit by others," ruled a bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan, upholding the union government's lawsuit against a Calcutta High Court's order, which allowed a retired railway employee's claim for pension 22 years after his retirement.        
M.K. Sarkar, a former railway employee, had approached the authorities for pension in 1998 -- 22 years after his retirement in 1976 despite availing the post-retirement benefits under an alternative contributory Provident Fund Scheme to which he subscribed during his service.        
Sarkar, working for railways since February 1947, subscribed to the Employees Provident Fund Scheme, ignoring Indian Railways' repeated offers to its employees to switch over to its pension scheme, which was first introduced in 1957.        
Sarkar eventually sought to switch over to the pension scheme in 1998 after he came to learn that similar permission was given to some other railway employees in mid-1990s, years after their retirement.        
But the apex court eventually found that the government had wrongly extended such benefits to others.         
"If any illegality or irregularity is committed in favour of any individual or group of individuals, others cannot invoke the jurisdiction of courts for perpetuating the same irregularity or illegality in their favour also," the court held in its ruling pronounced last fortnight, but released Monday.        
"The guarantee of equality before law under Article 14 of the Constitution is a positive concept and cannot be enforced in a negative manner," the bench held.