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The Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Recruitment Board vs. Saluvadi Sumalatha & Anr.

Not available · 2024 INSC 176Decided 5 Mar 2024
Not available
Justice A.S. Bopanna · Justice M.M. Sundresh

Background

The Recruitment Board issued a notification for junior lecturer posts in Telangana's Residential Educational Institutions, to be filled using a mix of merit-based and local-zone reservation rules. Both respondent no.1 and respondent no.2 belonged to the same reserved category (Scheduled Caste Women); respondent no.2 ranked higher on merit (35th) but had chosen the disputed zone only as her second preference, while respondent no.1 (49th rank) had it as her first preference. Respondent no.1 challenged the selection, and the Telangana High Court (both Single Judge and Division Bench) ruled in her favour, holding the reservation ratio should be 40:60 rather than 30:70 and that respondent no.2 should not have been considered for that zone.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the High Court had misapplied the applicable government orders: the 2002 amendment clearly required 30% of posts to be filled first on a combined merit basis (locals and non-locals together), with the remaining 70% reserved for locals, not the reverse ratio the High Court had used. It also held there was no rule barring a candidate from being considered in a zone that was their second (not first) preference, so long as they had validly opted for that zone, which respondent no.2 had done. The Court reiterated that courts should be slow to interfere with a recruiting agency's application of its own rules and should not sit in appeal over selection decisions absent illegality or bad faith. It set aside both High Court orders and restored the original selection in favour of respondent no.2.

Lesson Learnt

Courts will not readily overturn a recruitment agency's selection process merely because a losing candidate disputes the ratio or method applied, as long as the agency has correctly followed the governing rules and orders, and a candidate is free to be considered under any zone they have validly opted for, even if it isn't their first preference.

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

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