Awarding Govt Jobs Without Following Proper Advertisement & Selection Process Violates Article 16 Of Constitution: J&K High Court

Dismissing a bunch of petitions assailing the termination orders issued by the government a bench of Justice Javed Iqbal Wani observed,

“…Any appointment made on a post under the State or Union without issuance of advertisement inviting applications from eligible candidates and without holding a proper selection where all eligible candidates get a fair chance to compete would be violative of the guarantee enshrined in Article 16 of the Constitution”.

Background:

The petitioners in these cases were all appointed to various positions in the Municipal Committee Akhnoor and the Local Bodies Division-I, Jammu. However, these appointments were made without following the recruitment rules that came into effect in 2008. Subsequently, the government initiated an enquiry into allegations of illegal appointments and terminated the services of the petitioners.

The petitioners contended that they had been working in the department for a considerable period and their appointments were regularized by the authorities. They argued that the termination of their services was unfair and violated their right to livelihood.

Court's Observations:

Justice Wani while acknowledging the petitioner's service period, firmly held that Article 16 of the Constitution of India guarantees equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to public employment. This essentially means that appointments to government posts must be made through a fair and transparent selection process open to all eligible candidates, the bench underscored.

However, the Court meticulously analyzed the circumstances surrounding each petitioner's appointment, noting the absence of proper advertisement inviting applications from eligible candidates and the lack of a fair selection process.

Given these facts, the bench noted that the petitioners' appointments, made without following the proper procedure, were inherently flawed and could not be sustained.

Furthermore, the Court drew reference to the Supreme Court judgement in "Secretary, State of Karnataka and others Vs Uma Devi (3) and others" (2006), which had deprecated the practice of absorbing, regularizing, or permanently continuing temporary or casual employees who were appointed without following the established recruitment process.

In light of these observations, the High Court dismissed the petitions filed by the petitioners. The Court ruled that the termination orders issued by the government were valid and justified as they followed the principles of natural justice.

Case Title: Ashok Kumar Vs UT of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 52

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