Defeat of legitimate expectation by policy change and expanded candidate pool.

A legitimate expectation based on an erstwhile historical practice of absorbing all pass-outs of a government training course cannot survive a fundamental shift in state policy and socio-educational circumstances. When the State expands educational permissions to non-government and private institutions under governing statutes, resulting in an exponential increase in the pool of qualified pass-outs that far exceeds available vacancies, the factual matrix undergoes a substantial alteration. In such an altered reality, continuing an archaic practice of directly absorbing government college candidates to the exclusion of private college graduates would cause manifest discrimination and violate Article 14. An expectation founded upon a small-scale historical intake ceases to be legitimate when public interest demands an open, competitive selection process to recruit the most meritorious candidates from an expanded, diverse talent pool. (State of Uttar Pradesh and Ors. Vs Bhawana Mishra | 2026 INSC 38).