New Delhi. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday gave a major decision regarding recruitment in government jobs. The court said that recruitment rules for government jobs cannot be changed midway. The Supreme Court also said in its judgment that the selection rules for government jobs should be decided before the recruitment process starts.
The Constitution Bench said that the government
The selection rules or eligibility criteria for jobs cannot be changed midway or after the recruitment process has started unless the rules permit it. The court said that the rules of appointment to government jobs cannot be changed in the middle unless it is prescribed. A five-judge bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud said that the rules that have been laid down before the start of the recruitment process cannot be tampered with. The bench also included Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice PS Narasimha, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Manoj Mishra. The bench delivered the verdict today after reserving judgment on the matter for July 2023.
The bench said that the selection rules should not be arbitrary but should be in accordance with Article 14 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court unanimously held that transparency and non-discrimination should be the hallmark of the public recruitment process. Candidates should not be surprised and harassed by making changes in the rules midway.
The question in the case before the court was whether the criteria for appointment to a public post can be changed by the concerned authorities midway through the selection process or after its commencement. In other words, the question was whether the rules of the job selection process could be changed midway.
The Supreme Court in its decision today. Emphasized the earlier decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Manjushree etc. vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2008), which held that the rules of the recruitment process cannot be changed mid-stream.
The case pertained to the recruitment process to fill thirteen translator posts on the staff of the Rajasthan High Court. Candidates had to appear for a written examination followed by a personal interview. 21 candidates had participated in it. Only three of them were declared successful by the High Court (administrative side). It was later revealed that the Chief Justice of the High Court had ordered that only those candidates who had secured at least 75 percent marks should be selected for the posts.
When the recruitment process was first notified by the High Court, the 75 per cent criteria was not mentioned.
It was only by applying this revised criteria that three candidates were selected and the remaining candidates were left out. After which three unsuccessful candidates challenged the result by filing a writ petition in the High Court, which was rejected in March 2010. After which he approached the Supreme Court.
Comments are closed.