Bihar City Manager Cadre Rules | Candidate Getting Minimum Qualified Marks Can't Be Excluded From Merit List For Not Having Work Experience: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 16) granted relief to the candidate who was denied a place in the merit list by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission because of holding Zero work experience despite qualifying the minimum marks criteria as per the advertisement.

A candidate had applied for the position of City Manager under the Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Bihar. The said post is governed by the Bihar City Manager Cadre (Appointment and Service Conditions) Rules, 2014, which were framed under Article 309 of the Constitution of India.

The recruitment exercise was undertaken by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (“BSSC”). The minimum qualifying mark prescribed for the written exam was 32%. The respondent-candidate despite scoring 22.575 marks out of 70 in the written examination i.e., 32.14% was not placed in the merit list prepared by the Appellant-BSSC to qualify for the counseling. 

The Writ Petition was preferred by the Respondent-candidate against the BSSC, which came to be allowed by the Single as well as Division Bench of the High Court. Aggrieved by the same, the Appellant-BSSC approached the Supreme Court.

Affirming the findings of the High Court, the bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale observed that the Appellant/Bihar Staff Selection Commission had acted in contravention to the statutory Rules of 2014 in not considering the candidature of the Respondent-Candidate despite qualifying the minimum marks criteria to become eligible to appear in counseling.

It is significant to note that the candidature of the Respondent was also denied because she had zero experience and had scored 0 out of 30 in the category of work experience. The Appellants BSSC had considered work experience marks in the minimum marks criteria and considered 22.575 marks obtained by the Respondent out of a total of 100 marks.

Rejecting such an approach, the court said “the candidate with just qualifying 32% marks in the written (22.5 out of 70) with no experience will stand almost at the bottom of the merit list, but still she will be eligible and qualified to be appointed provided the merit list goes as low as 22.5 marks out of 100.”

However, the Court clarified that the final merit list would be prepared after taking into consideration the marks obtained on account of experience.

“Respondent no. 1 received 22.5 marks out of 70, 32.14 percent, above the minimum qualifying marks of 32 per cent as per the advertisement. Therefore, the appellants were not right by denying her a place on the merit list. Impugned judgement does not warrant any interference.”, the court said.

Accordingly, the appeal was dismissed.

For Petitioner(s) Mr. Vijay Hansaria, Sr. Adv. Mr. Arun K. Sinha, AOR Mr. Rakesh Singh, Adv. Mr. Sumit Sinha, Adv.

For Respondent(s) Mrs. Anjana Prakash, Sr. Adv. Mr. Anuj Prakash, Adv. Mr. Namit Saxena, AOR Mr. Niraj Dubey, Adv. Mr. Pradum Kumar, Adv. Ms. Rachitta Rai, AOR

Case Details: BIHAR STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION & ANR. Versus HIMAL KUMARI & ANR. ETC.

Citation : 2024 LiveLaw (SC) 483

Click here to read/download the judgment