U.V.MAHADKAR vs SUBHASH ANAND CHAVAN .

The Supreme Court overturned the High Court's decision that set aside the selection of U.V. Mahadkar as Head of Department of Agronomy, citing violations of Statute 41 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Universities Statutes, 1990. The Court held that the Selection Committee failed to consider seniority as a relevant factor when both candidates had equal merit, thereby establishing that seniority must be factored into selection processes where merit cum seniority is the criterion. The Court reinstated Mahadkar's selection, emphasizing the need for the Committee to provide justifiable reasons for its decisions.