Once the claimed relief is granted, the original application becomes infructuous and is dismissed.

Thirty applicants, serving in various posts in the Income Tax Department, instituted Original Application No. 536 of 2017 before the Central Administrative Tribunal, Jabalpur Bench, against the Union of India, the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and other departmental authorities.

At the hearing, counsel for the applicants submitted that the relief sought in the application had already been granted by the respondents’ department and that no issue remained for adjudication.

The applicants therefore submitted that the Original Application had become infructuous.

Counsel for the respondents conceded the applicants’ submission.

Whether the Original Application had become infructuous because the relief claimed by the applicants had already been granted by the respondents’ department.

Whether the Original Application should consequently be dismissed without adjudication on the merits.

The Tribunal applied the procedural principle that a proceeding becomes infructuous when the relief sought has already been granted or the underlying dispute no longer survives, leaving no effective relief for the court or tribunal to grant.

In such circumstances, the proceeding may be dismissed as infructuous rather than decided on its merits.

No specific statutory provision or judicial precedent was cited in the order.

The applicants represented that the departmental authorities had already granted the relief sought in the Original Application, thereby extinguishing the live controversy.

The respondents expressly conceded this position.

Since no surviving dispute or effective relief remained for determination, the Tribunal treated the application as infructuous and found no necessity to examine the substantive claims.

Accordingly, Original Application No. 536 of 2017 was dismissed as having been rendered infructuous.