The Tripura High Court dismissed a petition seeking appointment and publication of results to the post of Superintendent and held that the candidates for a recruitment exercise cannot seek a writ in the nature of mandamus or a positive direction upon the State or its instrumentalities for offering them appointment when the recruitment process has not attained finality and the doctrine of legitimate expectation cannot be invoked at this stage.
Brief Facts:
The petitioners, candidates for the post of Superintendent filed the present petition seeking directions to the respondents to publish the results of the recruitment test and offer them appointment if they are on the merit list after the final results and appointments were not made despite the petitioners having faced both the written and computer proficiency tests.
Contentions of the Applicant:
The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner contended that there was a clear direction of the Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India to fill up vacancies in mission mode and the petitioners have a a legitimate expectation of being offered appointment which is not being promptly attended to by the respondent authorities. It was further argued that in a recruitment exercise for public employment, it is expected that the respondent authorities of the State would act with fairness.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent contended that no legal right has accrued in favor of the petitioners for seeking appointment against the recruitment exercise and the petitioners do not have any statutory or fundamental right to seek appointment unless it is demonstrably shown that any person junior to them in the merit list has been offered appointment or the statute mandates for publication of result and offer of appointment within a stipulated period. It was further argued that the petitioners had invoked the doctrine of legitimate expectation and fairness in a misconceived manner in an incomplete recruitment exercise and the petitioners thus cannot seek any relief under Article 226.
Observations of the Court:
The court observed that the applicants who are candidates for a recruitment exercise could not seek a writ in the nature of mandamus or a positive direction upon the State or its instrumentalities for offering them appointment when the recruitment process has not attained finality and no person having lower marks have been offered an appointment by the respondents.
It was further stated that the employer cannot be compelled in such circumstances by a writ of mandamus or a positive direction to publish the results and offer the appointment to the candidates facing the recruitment test. It was further stated that the recruitment exercise has not yet been scrapped and thus, at this stage, the doctrine of legitimate expectation cannot be invoked.
The decision of the Court:
The court dismissed the writ petitions and refused to grant any relief to the petitioners.
Case Title: Dhrubamani Dey and ors. vs. Union of India and ors.
Coram: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh
Case No.: WP(C) No.519 of 2023
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. Somik Deb and Mrs. Riya Chakraborty
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Bidyut Majumder
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