C.D. AILAWADI vs UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

The Supreme Court upheld the order of compulsory retirement of the petitioner under rule 56(j)(i) of the Fundamental Rules, affirming that such retirement is not punitive and serves the public interest by removing ineffective personnel. The Court established that a civil servant can challenge such an order only on specific grounds, including lack of requisite opinion or arbitrary decision-making. In this case, the petitioner failed to demonstrate that the decision was based on collateral grounds or was arbitrary, thus the order was deemed valid.