In Brief
The Supreme Court reinstated librarians terminated by Bihar after their university degrees were invalidated following the striking down of the Chhattisgarh private university law. The Court held that employees cannot be penalized retroactively for obtaining qualifications while the law was valid. Although the Act was declared unconstitutional in 2005, the appellants had completed their Bachelor of Library Science degrees in 2004 and were appointed in 2010 without issue. Terminating them years later violated Articles 14 and 16 (equality principles). The Court distinguished its earlier judgment protecting only students still studying, and reinstated the appellants without back wages, emphasizing that vested rights acquired lawfully cannot be adversely affected by subsequent judicial invalidation.
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