Early Times Report
JAMMU, Apr 15: A Bench Central Administrative Tribunal Comprising Rajinder Singh Dogra Member (J) and Ram Mohan Johri Member (A) directed respondents to appoint the Mohd. Nawaz as Naib Tehsildar against any available vacancy, in accordance with his superior merit, within 8 weeks from the date of this order.
This judgment has been passed in which petitioner has approached this Tribunal seeking the direction for his appointment as Naib Tehsildar in light of the vacancies available, and claims that his right to be appointed has been unjustly denied despite his merit, which exceeds that of some appointed candidates. The applicant further prays that the official respondents be directed to appoint him against any available vacancy in the Naib Tehsildar cadre and to grant him all consequential benefits, including seniority from the date of appointment of other Naib Tehsildars.
The facts of the case are that the private respondents were appointed under relaxed qualification criteria, which allowed individuals with lower marks than the applicant to be selected. However, the applicant, who scored higher than these respondents, was not appointed despite his superior merit. The applicant's merit far exceeds that of several selected candidates. This discrepancy points to an arbitrary approach in the selection process, where merit was not the primary factor in the final appointments. Despite the appointments of other candidates, there are still available vacancies for which the applicant should be considered. The applicant contends that he is entitled to be appointed against one of these existing vacancies.
CAT while allowing the petition and after hearing Adv Nitin Bhasin for the petitioner, observed that the Court has thoroughly examined the facts, laws, and principles of fairness and merit. While it is decided not to cancel the private respondents' appointments to avoid disrupting the current situation, the official respondents shall appoint the applicant to the Naib Tehsildar position against an available vacancy.
CAT directed the official respondents are hereby directed to appoint the applicant as Naib Tehsildar against any available vacancy, in accordance with his superior merit, within 8 weeks from the date of this order and the applicant shall be granted all consequential benefits, including seniority, from the date of appointment of other Naib Tehsildars who were selected in the same selection process.
CAT further directed the official respondents shall ensure that all appointments are made in a fair and transparent manner, with due consideration given to the merit of candidates, and in compliance with the principles of equality and fairness and shall take necessary steps to ensure that all further appointments to the Naib Tehsildar posts are based on merit and adhere to the prescribed eligibility criteria without any undue relaxation or deviation. —JNF |
