In a significant relief to a history lecturer from Assam, the Supreme Court on Thursday set aside Gauhati High Court orders that had disqualified her for being “overage” at the time of appointment. The bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and S.V.N. Bhatti directed the State to reinstate Jyotsna Devi within four weeks, bringing a nearly two-decade-long tussle to a close.
Background
The dispute began with a 2006 advertisement for a Lecturer in History at a government-aided junior college. Jyotsna Devi topped the merit list and was appointed after the Assam government condoned an age gap of two years and seven months. Trouble started when another candidate, placed second, challenged the appointment, arguing that the 2003 Assam Secondary Education Service Rules capped the entry age at 36. The High Court initially upheld Devi’s selection, noting the recruitment was governed by the 2001 rules for aided colleges, which had no age limit.
But in 2012, a division bench reversed that decision, applying the 2003 rules and declaring her appointment invalid. Devi’s plea to the Supreme Court in 2012 was dismissed with liberty to seek review, which also failed in 2023.
Court’s Observations
The Supreme Court took a different view. “The advertisement is clear that the selection process is set in motion as per the 2001 Rules,” Justice Bhatti observed while dictating the judgment. The bench stressed that applying the 2003 rules-framed for provincialised schools and not aided junior colleges-was “illegal” in these circumstances.
It also noted that the government had explicitly approved her appointment and condoned the age issue back in 2006. “The discretion exercised by the State in abundant caution does not give a cause to a candidate at serial no. 2 to challenge the appointment of the appellant,” the bench remarked.
Decision
Allowing the appeal, the court quashed the Gauhati High Court’s 2012 and 2023 orders and restored the original single-judge decision. The judges directed the Assam government and college authorities to reinstate Jyotsna Devi within four weeks, granting her full continuity of service but no back wages. At the same time, they clarified that the other lecturer who had challenged her appointment would continue in service without disturbance.
With that, the Supreme Court ended an 18-year-long battle over an appointment that, as the bench pointed out, should never have been questioned under the wrong set of rules.
Case Title: Jyotsna Devi vs. State of Assam & Others – Supreme Court on Lecturer’s Age Limit Dispute
Citation: 2025 INSC 1156
Decision Date: 25 September 2025