State of Uttar Pradesh v. Bhawana Mishra 2026 INSC 38 - Educational Courses - Admission -Legitimate Expectation
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Educational Courses - Admission - While advertisements for private colleges explicitly state that admission does not grant a right to appointment, the absence of this specific disclaimer in government college advertisements does not mean a right to appointment is automatically implied. (Para 21)
Doctrine of Legitimate Expectation - Two tests - (1) legitimacy of the expectation and (2) being denial of legitimate expectation that led to violation of Article 14. (Para 26)
Factual Summary: Supreme Court set aside Allahabad High Court orders that had directed Uttar Pradesh to appoint Ayurvedic Staff Nurse trainees, holding that mere admission and completion of training did not confer a right to appointment. It found that post-2011 policy changes allowing private institutions and the 2014 shift to UPSSSC recruitment, followed by 2021 service rules, required a competitive selection process, making the doctrine of legitimate expectation inapplicable.
Case Info
Case name and neutral citation:
- State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. v. Bhawana Mishra; with State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. v. Anshu Gautam and Ors.; and State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. v. Ankita Maurya and Ors. — 2026 INSC 38.
Coram:
- Rajesh Bindal, J.; Manmohan, J.
Judgment date:
- January 08, 2026.
Caselaws and citations:
- N. Suresh Nathan and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors., 1992 Supp (1) SCC 584.
- Sivanandan C T and Others v. High Court of Kerala and Others, 2023 INSC 709.
Statutes/laws referred:
- United Provinces (Indian Medicines) Act, 1939.
- Fundamental Rule 9(6)(b), Financial Handbook Volume II, Part II.
- Uttar Pradesh Ayush Department (Ayurved) Nursing Service Rules, 2021.
- Notifications/Government Orders: 12.11.1986 (selection procedure for training), 21.10.2011 (permission to private institutions), 22.04.2010 (continuation of course permission), 15.12.2014 (UPSSSC recruitment for specified pay bands).
- Constitutional provision: Article 14 (equality and non-arbitrariness).
