'Arbitrary Cancellation': J&K&L High Court Directs IIT Jammu To Appoint Selected Candidate With Retrospective Effect; Imposes ₹1 Lakh Cost

Observing that the cancellation of candidature was wholly unjustified and illegal, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani imposed ₹1,00,000 as exemplary costs on IIT Jammu, while directing appointment of the petitioner with retrospective effect (excluding monetary benefits).

This direction was rendered in a petition filed by Irfan Yousuf, who had challenged the cancellation of his candidature for the post of Laboratory Officer (Material Science Engineering) pursuant to Advertisement Notification issued by IIT Jammu.

Background:

The petitioner, a B.Tech graduate in Metallurgy and Material Engineering from NIT Srinagar (2017), had been working continuously in NIT Srinagar since April 2019, initially as a Technical Assistant on contractual basis and subsequently through outsourced agencies. His engagement, first directly with NIT Srinagar and later through outsourcing agencies, continued uninterrupted till July 2023, giving him well over the requisite three years' experience prescribed under the recruitment rules for the post in question.

When IIT Jammu advertised vacancies for Laboratory Officer, including one post under the OBC category, the petitioner applied along with all requisite documents, including experience certificates issued by NIT Srinagar and the outsourcing agencies. Though his application was initially marked deficient for want of a salary certificate for a particular period, the deficiency was cured within time, accepted by the Institute, and the petitioner was declared eligible.

Following scrutiny, the petitioner was subjected to a written test and technical viva-voce, both of which he successfully cleared. He was thereafter placed at Serial No. 1 in the waiting list in the OBC category in the final selection list. However, despite having verified his experience through NIT Srinagar, IIT Jammu subsequently sought re-verification from one of the outsourcing agencies, namely Laxmi Chand and Sons Pvt. Ltd., by writing to its Delhi office instead of its NIT Srinagar office.

On the ground that the experience certificates were “not verified” by the said employer, IIT Jammu cancelled the petitioner's candidature through an email without affording him any opportunity of hearing.

Court's Analysis and Observations:

Justice Wani, after examining the pleadings, records, and the recruitment instructions, noted that the petitioner's eligibility and experience had already been scrutinized and accepted by IIT Jammu at multiple stages of the selection process. The Court traced the entire sequence from provisional scrutiny, final eligibility list, written examination, viva-voce, waiting list placement, and subsequent document verification and found the action of the Institute to be self-contradictory and legally unsustainable.

The Court took note of the fact that the petitioner had clearly disclosed his entire employment history in his application form and supporting documents, including his contractual engagement with NIT Srinagar and subsequent service through outsourced agencies. It was found that, on the date of submission of the application itself, the petitioner possessed the mandatory three years' relevant experience, and by July 2023, he had accrued even more than that.

Rejecting the stand of IIT Jammu that the petitioner had furnished false or incorrect information, the Court held that the cancellation of candidature on the ground of so-called non-verification by one outsourcing agency was wholly unjustified, especially when the experience stood otherwise verified and was subsequently confirmed even by the said agency

In a categorical finding, the Court observed,

“The respondents have wrongly and without any lawful justification cancelled the candidature of the petitioner and in the process, delayed and denied appointment to the petitioner in breach and violation of his rights available to him in law and the Constitution.”

The Court further held that such arbitrary action entitled the petitioner not only to the principal relief of appointment but also to exemplary costs, as the denial of appointment was neither bona fide nor legally defensible.

Allowing the writ petition, the High Court quashed the impugned communication directing IIT Jammu to offer appointment to the petitioner as Laboratory Officer (Material Science Engineering). The Court ordered that the petitioner be treated as appointed retrospectively from the date he was due to be appointed, with all consequential benefits except monetary benefits.

In addition, IIT Jammu was directed to pay ₹1,00,000 as exemplary costs to the petitioner within four weeks.

Case Title: Irfan Yousuf Vs IIT Jammu, Nagrota Campus & Ors

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (JKL)

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