In Brief
The State of Rajasthan appealed a complex multi-decade dispute over bonus marks unlawfully awarded to Primary School Teachers selected in Rajasthan in 1998-99. The Supreme Court held that only candidates who filed writ petitions challenging the bonus marks by November 17, 1999 (the date of the High Court's original judgment striking down the bonus marks as unconstitutional discrimination) could claim relief through recalculation. Candidates filing petitions after that date had no claim to relief, except where individual cases had already become final through non-challenge. The Court emphasized that the binding precedent must be respected and that extending benefits beyond the fixed deadline would violate the doctrine of prospective overruling and cause speculative litigation.
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