In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld that employees of private educational institutions in Odisha cannot claim grant-in-aid under the 1994 Grant-in-aid Order after its repeal in 2004. The Court held that grant-in-aid is not a vested right but a discretionary benefit dependent on annual budgetary allocation, timely application, and multiple eligibility conditions. Since such benefit requires discretionary investigation and approval, it does not constitute an accrued right surviving repeal under the General Clauses Act. The 2004 Order's saving clause only preserved existing payments; no retrospective claims could be entertained. Applications filed years later in 2011-12 were fatally delayed. The Court also rejected parity arguments, holding that Article 14 does not permit claiming benefits based on errors in other cases when no independent right exists.
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