In Brief
The appellant was appointed as Assistant Professor and the respondent as Lecturer following a 2005 advertisement by a dental university in Uttar Pradesh. The respondent was later promoted to Assistant Professor and then claimed seniority over the appellant before the Chancellor, whose order rejecting his claim was challenged in court. The High Court allowed the writ petition, quashing the appellant's appointment. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that the respondent's appointment challenge, made four years later, was barred by the statutory three-month deadline under the governing Act. The Court found the respondent had only contested seniority, not the appointment's validity, and that permitting a belated challenge would violate principles of finality and institutional stability. The appeal was allowed and the High Court judgment set aside."
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