Interim judicial restraint on appointments continued while a premature appearance direction was set aside in an appointment dispute.

An interim direction requiring the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to appear before the Court was treated as premature because the dispute over entitlement to appointment and the alleged lapse of the select list had not yet been finally adjudicated in the writ petition, and the direction was set aside. The restraint on making appointments to the post of Lecturer in Ophthalmology was considered appropriate to preserve the subject matter of the writ petition and was maintained until final disposal.

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Issues: Whether the interim direction requiring the Commissioner-cum-Secretary to appear before the Court should be set aside and whether the restraint on making appointments to the post of Lecturer in Ophthalmology should be maintained pending disposal of the writ petition.

Analysis: The controversy relating to entitlement to appointment and the alleged lapse of the select list had not been finally adjudicated in the writ petition. In that situation, the interim direction compelling appearance to explain non-compliance was treated as premature and as tending to overreach the main relief, while the restraint against making appointments was considered appropriate to continue until the writ petition was decided.

Conclusion: The direction requiring appearance before the Court was set aside and the restraint on making appointments was confirmed.

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