Jharkhand High Court Upholds District-Wise Chowkidar Selection, Says Posting Can Be Outside Beat Area For Cogent Reasons

The Jharkhand High Court has held that the recruitment for the post of Grameen Chowkidar has to be made district-wise and not beat-wise, adding that a chowkidar are usually to be posted within their residential beat area however they can be transferred to another area if reasons are cogent. The Court also said that the requirement for a candidate to be a resident of a particular beat is not mandatory but only directory, which means that authorities should try to post candidates in or near their residential beat, but this cannot decide the entire selection.A division bench of Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Rajesh Shankar were hearing a batch of petitions, challenging the recruitment process carried out by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate, Koderma."The Rules, 2015 further stipulates that the appointment for the post of 'Chowkidar' has to be made 'District wise' and as far as possible, posting of the selected candidates is to be made within their residential 'Beat' area. It further provides that normally transfer of any 'Chowkidar' will not be made. The Rules, 2015 also provides that for appointment to the post of 'Chowkidar', district level reservation roster as determined by the State of Jharkhand from time to time, will be followed," it said. The Court said in its judgement, “The word “यथासंभव” as appears in sub-clause (7) of Clause (5) of the Rules, 2015 would mean that the posting of 'Chowkidar' within his “Beat area” is not mandatory, rather it is directory in nature. Moreover, the word “सामान्यतः” mentioned in the said sub-clause makes it directory not mandatory that the transfer of a 'Chowkidar' will not be made. Thus, from the language used in the Rules, 2015, it is clear that a 'Chowkidar' who is resident of a concerned 'Beat' can be appointed/transferred to another 'Beat' for a cogent reason.”The Court further said, “The appointment is to be made 'district-wise' and as such the petitioners are wrong in contending that the appointment should have been made 'Beat Wise'.”The petitioners had challenged the district-wise merit list issued on 28 September 2024, arguing that the selection should have been conducted beat-wise and not across the district. They argued that under Clause 9 of the advertisement, only residents of a particular beat could be appointed as Chowkidars for that beat.Rejecting this contention, the Court referred to the Jharkhand Chowkidar Cadre Rules, 2015, which govern such appointments. The Court said that these Rules clearly provide for district-level recruitment, and that the beat clause only serves the purpose of identifying where a candidate lives so that, if possible, they can be posted nearby.The Court also noted that if recruitment were to be conducted separately for every beat, it would not be possible to apply the reservation policy. The Court said, “If the contention of the petitioners is accepted, it will not be possible to follow the reservation roster, as the same cannot be applied for a single post.”The Court opined, “the purpose behind incorporation of Clause 9 in the Advertisement No.01 of 2024 is that the authorities should know about the 'Beat' of a particular candidate so that as far as possible, his/her appointment is to be made within his/her residential 'Beat area' or in the neighbouring 'Beat' for smooth functioning of the duty of 'Chowkidar'.”The petitioners had also argued that they should have been called for the physical test after securing more than 30% marks in the written exam. The Court clarified that while 30% was the minimum qualifying mark, it did not mean that every candidate above that mark must be called for the physical test. The authorities had fixed the cut-off at 80%, and only those meeting that were eligible.The Court stated, “Clause 11 (Ka) of the advertisement makes it mandatory for the candidates to secure minimum 30% marks but that does not mean that every candidate who secures more than 30% marks, should be called for physical test.”The Court finding no irregularity in the recruitment process, concluded, “We do not find any merit in the writ petitions and the same are accordingly dismissed.”Case Title: Pintu Kumar v. State of Jharkhand & Ors.Case Number: W.P.(S) No. 1498 of 2025 (along with W.P.(S) No. 1529 of 2025 and W.P.(S) No. 4064 of 2025)Click here to read judgement

Jharkhand High Court Upholds District-Wise Chowkidar Selection, Says Posting Can Be Outside Beat Area For Cogent Reasons

Bhavya Singh

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