The Telangana High Court on Tuesday set aside a tribunal directive that had cancelled the appointment of Jaiteerth R Joshi as the Director General of BrahMos, ruling that the administrative body exceeded its judicial authority.
A division bench comprising Justice P Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda allowed petitions filed jointly by Joshi and the Union Government challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order. The bench held that the tribunal had transgressed the legitimate boundaries of judicial review when it voided the top-level appointment.
The legal battle originated from a December 29 order issued by the CAT last year, which nullified Joshi’s November 2024 selection as head of BrahMos. In that ruling, the tribunal instructed the central administration and related respondents to reconsider the candidacy of Sivasubramaniam Nambi Naidu, a Distinguished Scientist with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Naidu had initiated the challenge, asserting that his seniority over Joshi made him the rightful appointee to the post.
In response, the Union Government and Joshi petitioned the High Court, asserting that the tribunal’s intervention was unlawful and outside the allowable scope of administrative review. The High Court placed an interim stay on the tribunal’s order in January.
During hearings, counsel representing Naidu maintained that the central government had failed to substantiate why Joshi was the most suitable candidate among eligible scientists for the director general position. The High Court heard arguments from all parties and reserved its judgment in July before issuing Tuesday’s final order in favor of the petitioners.
