JUDGMENT

1. The petitioner is before this Court calling in question provisional list of selected candidate to the post of Assistant Professor in Food Engineering in the respondent/University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad ('the University' for short) by Notification dtd. 12/7/2023.

2. Facts, in brief, adumbrated are as follows:-

The 1st respondent/University issued a notification to fill up backlog posts in the cadres of Professor and Assistant Professor. The petitioner and the private respondent, herein finding themselves eligible, applied pursuant to the said notification. The petitioner and the 4th respondent were called for document verification by the University along with other applicants. On 27/6/2023, it appears, the 4th respondent was provisionally selected against which the petitioner raised his protest with regard to the Selection Committee deviating from the procedure stipulated and the norms that are necessary to be followed as depicted under the guidelines of the University Grants Commission ('UGC'). On 12/7/2023 a select list is notified to the cadre of Assistant Professor in Food Engineering whereby the 4th respondent emerges as the selected candidate. Immediately