Employees accepting voluntary retirement benefits are estopped from subsequently claiming parity with pensionary benefits.

The petitioners were appointed as Mechanics in M/s Himalayan Wool Combers Private Limited between 1978 and 1979.

They sought the implementation of Government Order No. 35-IND of 2018, which granted pensionary benefits to employees of J&K Industries (JKI) and allied units, claiming they were similarly situated.

However, the petitioners had already opted for and received terminal benefits under the "Golden Handshake Scheme" (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) in 2001-2002 following the closure of their unit.

Petitioner No. 2 had previously filed SWP No. 01/2019 seeking COLA arrears under the same VRS scheme, a fact suppressed in the present petition.

Whether the petitioners, having accepted benefits under a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (Golden Handshake), can subsequently claim pensionary benefits under a different government order two decades later.

Whether the suppression of material facts regarding previous litigation disentitles a petitioner from seeking discretionary relief under writ jurisdiction.

Whether the benefits of Government Order No. 35-IND of 2018 apply to employees of a separate legal entity (M/s Himalayan Wool Combers) appointed after its registration in 1978.

The court applied the principle of judicial estoppel and the doctrine of laches, noting that the law does not assist the "indolent and acquiescent litigant".

It relied on the precedent of Ghulam Rasool Lone v. State of J&K & Ors. (2009), which established that "fence-sitters" who delay agitating their rights until others succeed in litigation are not entitled to relief.

The court reinforced the requirement of "clean hands" in writ jurisdiction, where suppression of material facts justifies dismissal.

The court reasoned that the petitioners were legally estopped from challenging their retirement terms after twenty years, having voluntarily accepted the Golden Handshake Scheme without demur in 2001.

It found that M/s Himalayan Wool Combers was a distinct entity from J&K Industries (JKI); since the petitioners were appointed after the company’s independent registration in 1978, they lacked the requisite employment relationship to JKI to qualify for the 2018 Order.

The court characterized the petitioners as "fence-sitters" who only woke from "deep slumber" after seeing other corporations' employees succeed in court.

Additionally, the court severely criticized Petitioner No. 2 for pursuing contradictory reliefs—simultaneously seeking VRS benefits in one petition and pensionary benefits in another—while suppressing the former from the Court.

The court specifically held that the suppression of material facts by Petitioner No. 2 disentitled him to any relief.

Consequently, the connected contempt petition CCP(S) No. 86/2022 was also disposed of as it did not survive the dismissal of the main petition.