'First Come First Serve' Policy Inherently Flawed, Cannot Be Resorted To In Matters Of Public Employment: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Court directed the Ministry of Jal Shakti Department of Water Resources to not resort to the said policy in future.

A single judge bench of Justice Subodh Abhyankar observed, “…the policy adopted by the respondents on the principle of first come first serve basis was inherently flawed, and this principle would also be applicable in the case of any public employment and however, considering the fact that much water has flown since the issuance of advertisement, and even the training has also been completed in the month of January, 2025, no purpose would be served to set the clock back by quashing the advertisement. In such circumstances, although no case for interference is made out at this stage, however, the respondents are directed that hence forth they should not resort to the policy of first come first serve basis for imparting the training for water auditing, which is apparently a flawed policy, and cannot be allowed to be continued any further.”

As per the factual matrix of the case, the petitioner is aggrieved by the advertisement issued by the respondent No. 1/Ministry of Jal Shakti Department Of Water Resources through which applications were called on the first come first serve basis for the training course in water auditing on the basis of which the Water Auditors were to be appointed. The petitioner has also challenged the select list whereby certain persons were selected by the respondents pursuant to the advertisement.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that policy adopted by the respondents of entertaining applications on the basis of first come first serve is flawed and has been deprecated by the Supreme Court in the case of Centre for Public Interest Litigation and Others Vs. Union of India and Others. Thus, the counsel prayed that the impugned advertisement and the select list be quashed and the respondents may be directed to proceed in accordance with law on the basis of the merits of the applicants.

On the contrary, counsel for the respondent opposed the petitioner's prayer and submitted that the advertisement was issued on October 15, 2024 and the applications were to be received within fifteen days' time from the date of advertisement. Further, the training began on December 2 and ended on January 10. Thus, filing the petition on December 10, after the training had already began, has made the petition infructuous.

After hearing the parties, the Court opined that the petitioner's argument holds substance and that the policy of first come first serve basis ought not to have been adopted by the respondents.

Further, noting that the training has already been completed, the Court did not find it appropriate to quash the advertisement.

However, the Court directed the respondents that in future they should not resort to the policy of first come first serve basis for imparting the training for water auditing.

The petition was hence, disposed of.

Case Title: Vivek Dwivedi Versus Union Of India Ministry Of Jal Shakti Department Of Water Resources River Development And Ganga Rej And Others, Writ Petition No. 39755 Of 2024

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (MP) 86