Delhi HC Rejects PIL Challenging Appointment of NSIDC Chairman

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging Subhransu Sekhar Acharya’s appointment as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the National Small Industries Development Corporation Ltd. (NSIDC).

Court’s View

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora ruled that a PIL in service matters could not be maintained and declined to hear the plea.
“In view of the above, this Court finds no merit in the present writ petition. Accordingly, the same is dismissed. It is clarified that this Court has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the issue raised in the present petition,” the bench stated.

Petitioner’s Allegations

Saddam Ali, the petitioner, objected to Acharya’s appointment, claiming that it violated the advertisement issued by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on July 11, 2023, because he did not have the “minimum length” of service of two years remaining.
He claimed that the authorities did not disclose the reasons for relaxing the criteria outlined in clause 5 of Annexure-1 of the advertisement, and that the decision to appoint Acharya without reviewing the relevant material is invalid due to official arbitrariness. The court rejected the contentions, stating that the PIL was not maintainable and that only non-appointees could challenge the legality of the appointment or extension procedures.

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