Telangana High Court Asks State To Declare Candidate's CWC Chairperson Exam Result, Says Pending Criminal Case Not Disqualification

The Telangana High Court has directed the Telangana Government to declare the result of a candidate who appeared for the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Chairperson examination after an interim order of the Court. [2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 117]

The Court had earlier held that the mere pendency of a criminal case is not a ground to disqualify a candidate under Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, and directed the authorities to issue him a hall ticket. Since the petitioner had taken the examination pursuant to that order, the Court directed that his result be declared forthwith.

Justice Surepalli Nanda had, while passing the interim order, observed:

"A bare perusal of Section 27 of J.J. Act, 2015 clearly indicates that a pending case is not a criteria for disqualification of the candidate and as per the said Section only the convicted candidates alone are eligible for disqualification... The respondents are directed to issue Hall Ticket and permit the petitioner to appear for the examination to be held on 19.04.2026 for the post of Chairperson CWC."

The petitioner, who had earlier served as a Member of the Child Welfare Committee, Adilabad District, applied for the post of Chairperson pursuant to a notification issued in July 2025. Although he submitted his application within time, he was unable to download his hall ticket when the written examination was scheduled for April 19, 2026. He thereafter approached the High Court.

During the hearing of the writ petition, the Government submitted that the petitioner's application had not been processed because he had allegedly marked "Yes" against a column asking whether he had been found guilty of misuse of powers under the Juvenile Justice Act. The petitioner disputed this and contended that he had never selected that option.

Taking note of Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Supreme Court's decision in Sumit Mehta v. State of NCT of Delhi, the Court passed an interim order on April 17, 2026 directing the authorities to issue the petitioner a hall ticket and permit him to take the examination. It, however, directed that his result should not be declared until further orders.

When the matter came up for final hearing, counsel for the petitioner submitted that pursuant to the interim order, the petitioner had appeared for the examination but his result had been withheld because of the Court's earlier direction. It was also submitted that interviews for the post were scheduled to commence from June 25, 2026 and therefore the result ought to be declared immediately.

The Government Pleader, on instructions, informed the Court that the petitioner's result had not been declared only because of the interim order passed by the Court and that it would also be declared.

Recording the submissions of both parties, the Court disposed of the writ petition by directing the respondents to "declare forthwith the result of the petitioner's examination held on 19.04.2026" pursuant to his application for the post of Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee.

Case Title: Dr. Peddeli David v. State of Telangana & Ors.

Case No.: W.P. No. 11758 of 2026

Appearance: Sri T.P. Acharya for the petitioner; Government Pleader for Women Development and Child Welfare for the respondents.

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Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 117