Mandamus to Expeditiously Decide Pending Statutory Appeals Filed Under LIC (Agents) Regulations, 2017

The petitioner was appointed as an agent for the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 2008.

Following disciplinary proceedings, his agency was terminated via an order dated March 15, 2024.

The petitioner subsequently preferred an appeal against this termination on September 9, 2025, before the Zonal Manager (Respondent No. 2) under the applicable Regulations.

The petitioner approached the High Court of Chhattisgarh under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, contending that the appeal had remained pending for a considerable time without resolution.

1. Whether the Court should exercise its writ jurisdiction to direct a statutory authority to decide a pending departmental appeal within a specific timeframe.

Article 226 of the Constitution of India regarding the High Court's power to issue directions to authorities.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (Agents) Regulations, 2017, which provides the statutory mechanism for filing and deciding appeals.

The Court perused the record and noted that the petitioner’s grievance was limited to the non-consideration of his statutory appeal by the competent authority.

Rather than adjudicating on the merits of the termination—which remained within the domain of the appellate authority—the Court focused on the administrative delay.

Given that the petitioner expressed satisfaction if the matter were simply decided in a time-bound manner, and the respondents offered no objection to deciding the appeal within 30 days in accordance with the law, the Court found it appropriate to issue a mandatory direction to ensure the exhaustion of the statutory remedy.

The Court ordered that this exercise be completed expeditiously, preferably within 30 days from the receipt of the certified copy of the order. The authority was further directed to issue a reasoned and speaking order considering all grounds raised by the petitioner, while the Court clarified it had expressed no opinion on the merits of the case. No order as to costs was made.