Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 9: High Court upheld the withdrawal of notification pertaining to filing up of class IV posts in the School Education Department issued in 2015 in district Budgam.
The division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar has allowed the plea of Government filed through Commissioner Secretary to Education Department and other officials challenging the verdict of Administrative Tribunal whereby decision of withdrawal of notification and declaring the selection as void ab initio was quashed by the Tribunal.
The Chief Education Officer Budgam had invited applications vide notification dated February 5, 2014 in order to fill up the class IV vacancies in the education department with eligibility criteria prescribed in the advertisement notification.
However, the selection committee did not conduct the selection process as per the advertisement notification and altered the notified criteria in order to make the selection for these posts there was resented by the various candidates by submitting complaints from different quarters with regard to illegalities and misuse of authority in the selection process.
The matter was examined by the Administrative Department and it was found that the selection process was vitiated by many irregularities resulting into quashing of entire selection process, accordingly the Government issued an order declaring the notification as well as the selection process as withdrawn.
The selected candidates challenged the withdrawal of notification and declaring the selection process as null and void before the CAT. The CAT quashed the decision of Government to withdraw the notification and declaring the selection as void ab initio.
The DB quashed the verdict of CAT and held the withdrawal of notification and cancellation of selection process by the Government as legitimate by observing that two wrongs cannot make one right. “The decision by the authorities to rescind the selection process was bona fide and aimed at ensuring fair and legally tenable selection process”, DB added.
Holding the decision of Government as tenable, the bench said the authorities while declaring the selection process null and void and withdrawing the notification, have not acted arbitrarily and have based their decision on an exercise undertaken by them through a duly constituted fact finding enquiry Committee.”
The court, however, clarified that in case a fresh selection process is undertaken by the petitioner-authorities 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.
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