Selection Criteria Cannot Be Changed After Interview : Supreme Court

Reaffirming that selection criteria cannot be altered once the final stage of evaluation is complete, the Supreme Court dismissed the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board's appeal against the High Court's direction to create an additional post for candidates adversely affected by the post-interview change in criteria for the Forester recruitment. The Court held that modifying the evaluation scheme after the interviews had concluded unlawfully undermined the eligibility of certain candidates. “Therefore, a change in the selection criteria, after interviews were held, in our view, was rightly not countenanced by the Division Bench of the High Court.”, held a bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Prasanna B Varale. The J&K Services Selection Board issued a notification for 38 Forester posts requiring only 10+2 with Science and specified physical standards. In the absence of recruitment rules, the Board devised an evaluation scheme awarding 25 marks for a B.Sc. Forestry degree. After interviews, however, it altered the criteria by splitting the degree into 3-year (20 marks) and 4-year (25 marks) courses. The resulting select list was challenged by candidates with 3-year degrees, who argued that the Board could not change the evaluation criteria after interviews, especially when both degrees were recognized, and all candidates met the minimum eligibility.A Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the writ petition of those candidates against whom intra-court appeal(s) were filed before the Division Bench of the High Court, which came to be allowed by the order impugned. The Division Bench of the High Court took the view that once the selection process was complete and only the select list was to be prepared, the evaluation criteria ought not to have been altered, particularly when the minimum academic qualification for the post of Forester was only 10+2 with science. Challenging the Division Bench decision, the Board filed an appeal before the Supreme Court. Upholding the impugned order, the Court found that the Board's decision to split the degree into 3-year and 4-year programs constituted a change in the “rule of the game” after the completion of the interview stage, i.e., the final stage of the evaluation. Reference was to the constitution bench decision of Tej Prakash Pathak v. High Court of Rajasthan, 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 864. “we find that the evaluation procedure was altered after the interviews were over, candidates had completed their participation in the selection process, and most importantly, it was altered on representation of candidates. Such alteration, in our opinion, cannot be termed transparent and does not have a rational nexus to the object sought to be achieved in as much as the academic qualification required for the post was barely 10+2 with science and stress was more on physical attributes of a candidate including viva voce. Therefore, a change in the selection criteria, after interviews were held, in our view, was rightly not countenanced by the Division Bench of the High Court.”, the court observed. Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed. Cause Title: J AND K SERVICE SELECTION BOARD & ANR. VERSUS SUDESH KUMAR & ORS.Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 1156Click here to download orderAppearance: For Appellant(s) : Mr. G.M.kawoosa, Adv. Mr. Pashupathi Nath Razdan, AOR Ms. Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Adv. Mr. Astik Gupta, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Tomar, Adv. For Respondent(s) :Mr. Rohit Amit Sthalekar, AOR Mr. Shashank Singh, Adv. Mr. Sankalp Narain, Adv. Mr. Purnendu Bajpai, Adv.

Selection Criteria Cannot Be Changed After Interview : Supreme Court

Yash Mittal

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