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Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission v. Kota Lingeswara Rao

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 1360Decided 11 Dec 2019
Civil Appeal No. 9338 of 2019
Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar · Justice K.M. Joseph

Background

Respondent No. 1 took a selection exam for the post of Junior Lecturer in Mathematics conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) in 2011, scoring slightly below the last selected candidate in the Open Category. The selected candidate chose not to join the post. Four years later, Respondent No. 1 approached the A.P. Administrative Tribunal claiming he should be appointed to the resulting vacancy as the next-highest scorer, but his application was dismissed for delay. The High Court, on writ petition, reversed this and directed the Commission to appoint him, prompting the Commission's appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the APPSC Rules of Procedure, noting that the pre-1997 version of Rule 6 allowed a one-year "waiting list" from which the Commission could fill fallout vacancies caused by non-joining candidates, but the amended Rule 6 (in force since 1997) abolished this waiting-list mechanism: fallout vacancies must instead be carried into the next recruitment cycle, not filled from the old merit list. Reading amended Rule 6 together with Rule 7 (which deals with relinquishment), the Court held the Commission had no power to appoint the next-ranked candidate once a selected candidate failed to join, and that Respondent No.1 had no legal right to appointment under the rules actually in force. The Court also noted his claim was independently barred by the four-year delay and laches in approaching the Tribunal. The High Court's judgment was set aside and the Commission's appeal was allowed.

Lesson Learnt

When a selected candidate for a government post declines to join, candidates lower in the merit list cannot automatically claim the vacancy if the governing recruitment rules have abolished the "waiting list" system: the applicable rule is the one in force at the time, and courts cannot grant relief that conflicts with the Commission's own binding regulations, especially after years of delay in raising the claim.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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