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Union Public Service Commission vs. Krishna Mukund and Ors

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:8112-DBDecided 18 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 11674/2026CNR: DLHC010375872026
Justice C. Hari Shankar · Justice Vinod Kumar

Background

UPSC had selected candidates for 85 Public Prosecutor posts in the CBI in 2015, with a reserve/waiting list valid until 16 January 2017. Respondent Krishna Mukund was the next-in-line OBC candidate on that reserve list. When 6 OBC-category selected candidates failed to join their posts before the list expired (their names were reported to UPSC by the Department of Personnel & Training, including one "A. Mohammad Ali" flagged as early as February 2016), UPSC sent replacement dossiers for only 5 of the 6 vacancies, leaving the respondent's name unsent. The Central Administrative Tribunal ruled in the respondent's favour, and UPSC challenged that ruling before the High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The High Court dismissed UPSC's challenge, finding from the correspondence itself that the Department of Personnel & Training had flagged all 6 unfilled OBC vacancies, including the one arising from candidate A. Mohammad Ali's failure to join, well before the panel's 16 January 2017 expiry date. UPSC's argument that Mohammad Ali's vacancy was only formally notified in June 2017 (after expiry) was rejected, since the substance of that vacancy had already been communicated in February 2016. Because UPSC should have sent 6 replacement names rather than 5, and the respondent would have been the sixth candidate in line, the Court upheld the Tribunal's direction that his case be considered for appointment, but clarified this relief was limited to this one candidate only, not a wider reopening of the list.

Lesson Learnt

A recruiting authority cannot deny a wait-listed candidate their turn by citing the panel's expiry if the vacancy itself was reported and up for filling while the panel was still valid: what matters is when the vacancy arose and was notified, not when all the paperwork was completed.

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