GUWAHATI: In a major verdict, the Gauhati High Court, presided over by Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi, ruled that the candidates who were denied jobs despite securing higher marks in the final selection list for Junior Engineer (Civil) posts under the Panchayat and Rural Development Department (P&RD) of Assam have to be appointed.
The court's decision came in response to a writ petition filed by candidates belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.
The dispute emerged after an advertisement to fill 344 Junior Engineer (Civil) posts, with 33 reserved for EWS candidates, was published on June 24, 2020.
Despite applying and claiming to have been selected based on merit, the petitioners complained that they were unjustly denied appointments due to issues with their EWS certificates.
The petitioners argued that their EWS certificates, issued during the 2019-2020 financial year, were valid and relevant to the recruitment process.
They alleged that the concerned authorities arbitrarily rejected their certificates, saying that they were not provided with any clear guidelines regarding the timing and format of the EWS certificates. The rejected candidates went on to point that candidates with lower marks were appointed in their place.
In its verdict, the Gauhati HC stated about the lack of specific guidelines for the format of EWS certificates in the advertisement, leading to ambiguity in the recruitment process.
The court mentioned that the EWS reservations was a relatively new concept which was introduced in 2019, adding that a confusion arose over the absence of a standardized certificate format until 2022.
Justice Medhi emphasized that, given the emerging nature of EWS reservations and the absence of clear guidelines, the rejection of the petitioners' certificates was unreasonable.
The court directed that the petitioners be appointed as Junior Engineers in the P&RD Department, stressing that this decision was specific to the unique circumstances of the case.
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