In Brief
This appeal concerns whether Dr. Bikartan Das, a Research Assistant at the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS)—an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH—is entitled to enhanced retirement age (60 to 65 years) granted to AYUSH doctors. The Supreme Court held that employees of autonomous bodies are governed by their own bye-laws and cannot automatically claim parity with Central Government servants. Clause 34 of CCRAS's bye-laws, which allows the Governing Body to prescribe superannuation rules independently, was not overridden by Clause 35 (applying Central Rules mutatis mutandis). The High Court improperly exercised certiorari jurisdiction by substituting its own view based on the respondent's duties, rather than confining itself to correcting jurisdictional errors. The Court emphasized that a writ of certiorari is supervisory, not appellate.
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