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Charan Preet Singh v. Municipal Corporation Chandigarh

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 248Decided 17 Mar 2026
C.A. No.-003446-003446 - 2026
Justice Sanjay Karol · Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra · Justice N.V. Anjaria

Background

The Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, held a written recruitment test for one post of Law Officer. A disputed multiple-choice question (Q.73) asked which Schedule of the Constitution is immune from judicial review for violating fundamental rights; the recruiting body treated "Ninth Schedule" as correct, while candidate Amit Kumar Sharma (the third respondent) answered "None of the above" and was marked wrong, costing him marks. Charan Preet Singh (the appellant) was selected instead of Sharma based on this marking. Sharma's writ petition was dismissed by a Single Judge but allowed by the Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, prompting this appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court reviewed the constitutional case law on Article 31B and the Ninth Schedule (from Shankari Prasad through Kesavananda Bharati and I.R. Coelho) and found that both answers to Question 73 had reasonable constitutional support: the correct answer was genuinely debatable even among High Court judges, so it could not fairly be expected of law graduates sitting a recruitment exam. Rather than favouring one candidate over the other, the Court directed the Municipal Corporation to accommodate both candidates by creating a supernumerary post and appointing Sharma as well, with Charan Preet Singh (already working) to be treated as senior. The appeal was disposed of on these terms.

Lesson Learnt

When a recruitment exam question turns out to be genuinely ambiguous or legally contested, even among judges, courts may resolve the resulting dispute practically (e.g., accommodating both affected candidates) rather than penalizing either party for the examiner's flawed question.

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

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