Vacancies Arising From Resignations Can't Be Filled From Waiting List, Require Fresh Selection: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court has held that vacancies in public employments that arise on account of non-joining or subsequent resignations are considered fresh vacancies that are required to be filled by a new recruitment process and not by operating the reserve or waiting list prepared pursuant to the concerned selection process.
The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay K. Agrawal and Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu observed that the candidates appearing in the reserve or waiting list of a particular recruitment process could not claim a right to appointment against such vacancies, merely due to their inclusion in the reserve/waiting list.
For context, the petitioners had participated in the recruitment process for the post of System Assistants, and were named in the waiting/reserve list after the recruitment process was over in which 230 candidates were selected. Eventually, certain selected candidates did not join while some resigned subsequently, resulting in certain vacancies.
It was the case of the petitioners that since they were part of the reserve/waiting list of that recruitment process, the vacancies that arose subsequently due to such non-joining and resignations should be filled by them. Hence, the present petition was filed seeking directions in this regard to the respondents.
On the contrary, the respondents submitted that such vacancies could not be filled by the candidates appearing in the reserve/waiting list but by initiating a fresh recruitment process in accordance with law.
It was argued that there was no specific period under the Rajasthan Staff Services Rules, 2002, for operation or validity of the reserve/waiting list, and the candidate included in such list did not acquire an indefeasible or vested right to appointment merely by the virtue of his/her inclusion therein.
After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to the Supreme Court case of Sudesh Kumar Goyal Vs. The State of Haryana & Ors., and opined that,
“Once a candidate selected against an advertised post joins pursuant to the selection process and subsequently resigns, the vacancy caused by such resignation is a fresh vacancy. Such vacancy cannot ordinarily be filled up by operating the reserve/waiting list prepared pursuant to the earlier selection process, particularly when all the vacancies notified under the original advertisement had already been filled up. Such fresh vacancy is required to be filled up by undertaking a fresh recruitment process in accordance with law.”
In this background, the Court agreed with the submissions of the respondents, and held that the vacancies arising out of resignation were fresh vacancies which could not be treated as vacancies remaining unfilled in original selection process. Thus, these could not be filled by operating the reserve/waiting list.
Accordingly, petitions were dismissed.