| CAT draws red line on recruitment rules, throws out category change petitions | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 12: The Central Administrative Tribunal, Jammu Bench, has drawn a firm line on recruitment norms by dismissing two petitions seeking post-deadline correction of reservation categories in the JKSSB Constable recruitment process, holding that such changes are impermissible once the application and edit window close.
The common judgment was delivered by a Bench comprising Rajinder Singh Dogra, Judicial Member, and Ram Mohan Johri, Administrative Member, while deciding OA No. 1279/2025 and OA No. 1656/2025.
The petitioners, represented by Advocate Kamal Mangotra, claimed entitlement to horizontal reservation under Special Police Officer (SPO) and Home Guard (VHG) categories, contending that wrong category entries occurred due to inadvertent errors at cyber cafés during online submission. They sought directions to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board to rectify their application forms and extend consequential benefits in the ongoing Constable recruitment advertised vide Notification No. 01 of 2024.
Opposing the pleas, the UT of J&K and JKSSB, represented by Rajesh Thappa, AAG, argued that the applicants had themselves declared their categories while filling the online forms and failed to avail the edit window provided. It was contended that permitting category changes after participation in the examination would open floodgates, prejudice other candidates, and undermine the integrity of the recruitment process.
After examining the pleadings and hearing both sides, the Tribunal held that recruitment must be conducted strictly in accordance with the terms of the advertisement and notified procedure. The Bench observed that category or sub-category is an essential eligibility-related particular which determines the pool of comparison and applicable cut-offs, and cannot be altered after the deadline.
The Tribunal further ruled that once candidates participate in a selection process under declared conditions, they cannot subsequently seek relaxation or rewriting of those conditions on equitable grounds alone. Finding no illegality or arbitrariness in JKSSB’s action, the Tribunal dismissed both Original Applications, with no order as to costs. (JNF) |
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