The Supreme Court Thursday held that rules of public recruitment cannot be changed once the process has begun unless the rules provide so.

Answering a reference, a five-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said, “The recruitment process commences from the issuance of the advertisement calling for application and ends with filling up of vacancies. Eligibility criteria for being placed in the select list, notified at the commencement of the recruitment process, cannot be changed between to the recruitment process unless the extant rules so permit or the advertisement which is not contrary to the extant rules so permit.”

The bench also comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, PS Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal, and Manoj Misra said, “If such change is permissible under the extant rules for the advertisement, the change would have to meet the requirement of the constitution and satisfy the test of non-arbitrariness.”

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As the bench upheld the SC’s 2008 decision in K Manjusree vs State of Andhra Pradesh and another case, it said it “lays down good law” and is not in conflict with the decision in its earlier decision in the Subhash Chand Marwah case. “Marwah deals with the right to be appointed from the select list whereas K Manjusree deals with the right to be placed in the select list. The two cases, therefore, deal with altogether different issues,” said the bench.

Writing for the bench, Justice Manoj Misra said, “Recruiting bodies subject to the extant rules may devise an appropriate procedure for bringing the recruitment process to its logical end provided the procedure to adopted is transparent, non-discriminatory, non-arbitrary, and has a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved.”

“Extant rules having statutory force are binding on the recruiting body both in terms of procedure and eligibility. However, where the rules are non-existent or silent, administrative instructions may fill in the gaps. Placement in the select select list gives no indefeasible right to appointment,” the bench added.

Ananthakrishnan G


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Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry.

He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. … Read More




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