The Supreme Court of India ruled on Thursday that it is unlawful to change the rules regarding the recruitment to the public service during the process.
The decision particularly highlighted the need for fair and proper assessment by showing how any changes in selection standards should be effected before the actual recruitment is initiated or at times when certain phases have been accomplished. This decision aimed to avoid any alterations during the screening process to serve the true test of equal opportunities for the candidates.
The Constitution bench, comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y. Chandruchud, pointed at the 2008 Supreme Court ruling on K. Manjushree v. In the state of Andhra Pradesh v. McDowell’s case, it was held that distancing selection criteria once the process was initiated was unlawful.
The bench also quoted a judgement in the 2013 case of Tej Prakash Pathak v. In the State of Rajasthan, whether the decision of the Rajasthan judiciary about the appointment of translators under Section 109 of the guessed Act was valid and affirmed that the principles set down in the Manjushree case were good law still.
Regarding the second question, WSSDA responded positively, but the court made it clear that recruitment rules can only be changed if the existing rules state so. In those circumstances, these changes must not be autochthonous. They must align with the constitutional provisions on equality before the law and equal protection of the laws (Article 14) and prohibition of discrimination in employment on grounds of gender (Article 16).
The judgment also pointed out that just because someone’s name appears on a selection list does not mean the candidate is employed to fill a positional vacancy if the position no longer exists.
Justice Manoj Misra, the author of the decision, also repeated that the employer has the possibility of having the most suitable criteria for the position, provided that the same has to be formulated before the process of recruitment or any stages of the same starts. It also means that there are no situations in which candidates are left unprepared for a given change. The court intended to uphold the fact that the process of recruitment to public positions notice should be fair, non-discriminatory and does not involve taking arbitrary decisions.
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