Selection Committee's Recommendation To Enlarge Waitlist Does Not Confer Any Right On Candidates Unless Govt Approves: JKL High Court

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently ruled that a mere recommendation by the Selection Committee for enlarging the wait list, without there being a decision of the Government in accepting the said recommendation, does not give any right on the concerned candidates to seek enlargement of the waiting list. The observations came from Justice Sanjay Dhar in a petition whereby the petitioner had challenged the order whereby his claim for engagement for the position of Rehbar-e-Khel was rejected. Taking recourse to the available record the bench noted that the official respondents had invited applications from eligible candidates for engagement as Rehbar-e-Khel for District Kupwara wherein the petitioner participated and after undergoing the selection process he was placed at serial No.21 of the merit list. Accordingly the respondents issued a final selection list, according to which first 17 candidates were selected whereas a wait list of three candidates was also published. Court further noted that three candidates from the select list and one candidate from the wait list did not opt to take up the engagement, as such, two candidates from the wait list figuring at serial No.2 and 3 were engaged whereafter the Chairman of the Selection Committee, addressed a communication dated 06.0.2019 to the Director General, Youth Services and Sports, seeking permission to enlarge the waiting list to four number of candidates, which was not granted. This resulted in filing of instant petition. Dealing with the main contention of the petitioner that the Chairman of the Selection Committee i.e., respondent No.3, had sought permission for extending the waiting list by making it 25% of the vacancies and the same should have been done the bench observed that mere recommendation of respondent No.3 for enlarging the waiting list without there being a decision of the Government accepting the said recommendation does not give any right to the petitioner to seek a direction to the respondents to enlarge the wait list so as to include him therein and thereafter issue an engagement order in his favour. Buttressing the said position of law the bench placed firm reliance on the Supreme Court judgement in Sethi Auto Service Station and another vs. Delhi Development Authority and others, (2009) wherein SC recorded, "Notings in a departmental file do not have the sanction of law to be an effective order. A noting by an officer is an expression of his viewpoint on the subject. It is no more than an opinion by an officer for internal use and consideration of the other officials of the department and for the benefit of the final decision-making authority. Needless to add that internal notings are not meant for outside exposure. Notings in the file culminate into an executable order, affecting the rights of the parties, only when it reaches the final decision- making authority in the department; gets his approval and the final order is communicated to the person concerned".As a consequence to the above discussion the bench concluded that the petitioner has been unable to convince this Court that there is a right existing in his favour so as to seek a direction upon the respondents to enlarge the limit of waiting list of candidates with a corresponding duty upon the respondents to do so. Accordingly the bench dismissed the petition for being devoid of any merit. Case Title : Khalid Zahoor Khan Vs UT of J&K & Ors Citation : 2022 LiveLaw (JKL) 243 Coram : Justice Sanjay Dhar Counsel For Petitioner : Mir Mansoor. Counsel For Respondent : Mr Sajad Ashraf Click Here To Read/Download Judgment

Selection Committee's Recommendation To Enlarge Waitlist Does Not Confer Any Right On Candidates Unless Govt Approves: JKL High Court

Basit Amin Makhdoomi

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