Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd vs Kerala State Wakf Board on 13 August, 2021
In Union of India v. S.K. Saigal [(2007) 14 SCC 556],
a decision relied on by the learned counsel for the 2 nd respondent, the
question that came up for consideration before the Apex Court was as
to whether Rule 7(2)(b) of the Central Ground Water Board (Scientific
Group-A post) Recruitment Rules, 1995 could be brushed aside without
challenging the Rules and whether the mandate of the Rules could be
ignored in the absence of a challenge and without striking it down. In
C.R.P.No.412 of 2012 26
the said decision, the Apex Court held that, in the absence of a
challenge to the vires of the Rules, the respondents were not entitled
for the reliefs sought for in O.A.No.422 of 2002 before the Central
Administrative Tribunal. The Apex Court noticed that, in the original
application before the Tribunal, there is not even a whisper of challenge
against the Rules as discriminatory or ultra vires, much less Rule 7(2)