“Voluntarily Participated In Selection Process”: J&K High Court Dismisses Plea Of Candidate Seeking Appointment Due To Lesser Applicants Than Advertised Posts

“.. petitioner wants to be selected/ appointed notwithstanding the criteria prescribed for selection in question by respondents having acquiesced her right, when she responded to advertisement notice and participated in selection process. Such a selective adoption is not permissible under law”, observed a bench comprising Chief Justice N. Kotiswar Singh and Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal.

Background:

The appeal stemmed from an order by a Single Judge which dismissed Qurat-ul-ain's writ petition and vacated an interim direction.

The appellant, through her counsel Mr. J. H. Reshi, had contended that as per Advertisement issued by Shere Kashmir Institute Of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) she had applied for the Technician Medical Group post. Despite 20 advertised posts, only 15 candidates applied and were found eligible.

However on taking of the exam she failed the written test. Aggrieved by this, she filed a writ petition before the Single Judge contending that since there were fewer applicants than the advertised posts, SKIMS should have appointed her directly without conducting a written test or interview.

She had argued that SKIMS was obligated to appoint these candidates directly based on merit without conducting a written test or interview, citing the Jammu and Kashmir Recruitment Rules 2015 notified via SRO 202 of 2015.

The Single Judge, after a detailed hearing, dismissed the writ petition.

Assailing the judgment the appellant argued that conducting written tests was unnecessary when fewer candidates applied than the advertised posts.She emphasized that the recruitment rules did not mandate written tests or interviews for shortlisting.

Contesting the appeal the respondents maintained that as a premier medical institution, it was essential to ensure the recruitment of the best-suited candidates through rigorous selection processes, including written tests and interviews. The selection criteria were clearly outlined, requiring minimum qualifying marks, which the appellant was aware of and had voluntarily participated in, they argued.

Court Observations:

Adjudicating upon the matter Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal authoring the judgment for the bench observed that Qurat-ul-ain's contention held no merit. The Court pointed out that she had willingly participated in the entire selection process, including the written test, without raising any objections.

“.. when the writ petitioner/appellant has gladly and voluntarily participated in the selection process and appeared in the written test without any grouse and after having appeared in the written test, the appellant/writ petitioner is estopped under law to question the same, at this belated stage when the appellant/writ petitioner could not make the grade. Thus, the appellant is estopped under law to question the procedure of selection”, the bench remarked.

The Court relied on several Supreme Court Judgments including "Dhananjay Malik and others v. State of Uttaranchal and others", "Ramesh Chandra Shah and others v. Anil Joshi and others", and "R. N. Gosain v. Yashpal Dhir" to establish the principle of estoppel, which prevents a party from challenging a process they had previously participated in.

Observing that Qurat's participation in the selection process estopped her from questioning its validity at a later stage, especially after failing the written test the Court concluded,

“After her participation, her merit, eligibility and suitability was assessed and after having failed in the test, the appellant is challenging the criteria for the selection in question. Thus, she is now estopped under law to question the selection process after having participated in the selection process”.

In alignment with these observations the court upheld the single bench order and hence dismissed the appeal.

Case Title: Qurat-ul-ain Vs UT of J&K

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (JKL) 141