Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has upheld the government’s decision to withdraw a notification in 2015 about filling up Class IV vacancies in the School Education Department in Budgam district.
A division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar, while setting aside a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) judgement of August 17, 2023, observed that the decision by the authorities to rescind the selection process was bona fide and aimed at ensuring a fair and legally tenable selection process.
The Chief Education Officer, Budgam Vide notification on February 5, 2014 had invited applications to fill up Class IV vacancies in the School Education Department in the central district of Kashmir. As per the eligibility criteria, minimum qualification of 10th Pass and maximum of 10+2 was provided and that no additional weightage was given to any candidate for any higher qualification in terms of SRO 99 of 2008.
Nonetheless, it came to the notice of the government that the Selection Committee did not conduct the selection process as per the conditions notified in the advertisement notification and altered the criteria. Subsequently, an inquiry committee was set up and based on its report, the government announced that it withdrew the entire selection process.
The aggrieved candidates who had found a place in the select list filed several writ petitions before the High Court which were later transferred to the CAT.
“From the reading of the report of the enquiry Committee, pointing out various irregularities in the selection process, it is abundantly clear that it is not a case where the petitioners (authorities) could have separated the tainted candidates from untainted ones,” the Division bench of the High Court observed.
It also said “the irregularities and illegalities committed by the Selection Committee by altering the selection criteria and raising the points for interview from 20% to 40%, that too, for Class IV recruitment, goes to the root of the selection process.”
Any selection process made on the basis of such selection criteria is stillborn and cannot sustain in law, the court said.
It remarked, “without going into the legal question as to whether the selection criteria, once notified, can be changed midway without prejudice to the candidates aggrieved, suffice it to say that in the instant case there was sufficient material with the petitioners (authorities) to arrive at a satisfaction that the selection process conducted was neither fair nor transparent.”
While setting aside the CAT judgement, the court said that the authorities are free to initiate fresh selection process for making the selection for Class IV/MTS vacancies.
“We, however, clarify that in case fresh selection process is undertaken by the petitioners and fresh applications are invited, the candidates who had participated in the selection process scrapped by the government and who were within age, shall not be treated as over-aged for the fresh selection process,” the division bench said.
