Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 21: The High Court has quashed the 4-year-old selection list of X-Ray Assistant against the open merit quota and directed the authorities to re-draw the selection list based upon the merit position of the candidates within eight weeks.
Justice Javed Iqbal Wani quashed the selection list date 25.3.2025 with regard to three candidates who were appointed against the open merit quota for the post of X-Ray Assistant citing the same affects the claim of the aggrieved candidate.
The court directed the official respondents to re-draw the selection list based upon the merit position of the candidates including that of the aggrieved candidate in accordance with the prescribed criteria and select and offer appointment to the aggrieved candidate against the post of X-Ray Assistant with all consequential benefits.
“The exercise shall be undertaken and completed by the official respondents within a period of eight weeks from the date a copy of this judgment and order is served upon them by the petitioner”, read the judgment
The court said the aggrieved candidate indisputably has been possessed of the educational qualification prescribed for the post and has also secured more merit than the selected private respondent.
“Therefore, once the aggrieved candidate is found to be eligible and possessed of higher merit than the private respondents, denial of selection and consequent appointment to him against the post in question cannot, but said to be unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary, inasmuch as violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution rendering the exclusion of the petitioner from the selection in question, despite his higher merit legally unsustainable”, the court recorded.
The authorities concerned invited applications for engagement of X-Ray Assistants on academic arrangement basis under SRO 384 of 2009 dated 14.12.2009 read with SRO 409 of 2013, prescribing the eligibility qualification therein as 10+2 or above with diploma in the line from a recognized institute.
20 points were prescribed for basic qualification and 80 points for technical qualification in the said Advertisement Notice, and that the aggrieved candidate applied for the post and in the provisional merit list prepared in December, 2019 by the official respondents, was shown to be figuring at serial No.4 having secured 76.2 points and the selected candidates having secured 72.1, 71.0 and 71.0 points respectively placed in the said provisional merit list at serial Nos.14, 23 and 24 respectively. However, in the final selection list the aggrieved candidate was not shown as selected.
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