legel maxim

The maxim of Aequitas Legem Sequitur is a Latin phrase which literally means “equity follows law”. It simply states that equity follows the rules of law in all cases in which rules are applicable. The concept of equity was brought about to supplement the law and not to replace it. Thus, equity always follows the rules of law.

Anil Kumar Verma v. State of Uttar Pradesh

Anil Kumar Verma, who belonged to the reserved category, had scored 530 marks in Uttar Pradesh Public Service Examinations. Short of just one mark, Anil was not able to get himself selected. Later, he came to know that 2 candidates who had been selected had vacated their seat. Seeing this, he applied for the vacant seats, but the government announced that the vacant seats shall be filled in the consequent year. After this, Anil filed a writ petition under Writ of Mandamus in the Allahabad High Court and pleaded the Court to allow him to fill the vacated seats since he was next in line. In this regard, the Court held that the plaintiff can get himself selected in the subsequent year against the vacancy created, since there was no period fixed under the rules for lapsing the select list. It was also observed that the claims of the plaintiff were purely based on equity and applying the principal of Aequitas Legem Sequitur, equity always follows the rules of law, unless there is an exception. In this case, the petitioner files the writ petition after five years from the original selection. This period of five years saw two selective lists; thus, this case was no exception in this regard and hence, the writ petition was dismissed.