The main legal point established in the judgment is that the selection process for the post of Ayurvedic Medical Officer must be in accordance with the prescribed procedure, fair-play, and justice, and should not be contrary to the rules. The court emphasized the importance of following the rules and ensuring fairness in the selection process.

JUDGEMENT :

M. S. KARNIK, J.

1. This is a writ petition filed by the petitioner under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking the following substantive relief:-

“(a) That this Hon’ble Court be pleased to issue a writ of Certiorari or writ, or order or direction in the nature of certiorari, calling for the records and proceeding of the files pertaining to the recruitment to the Post of Ayurvedic Medical Officer in SC Category (General) leading to the order dated 18.05.2022 at Exhibit K and after ascertaining the legality and validity of the order be pleased to quash and set aside the same to the extent that it wrongly shows the Respondent Nos. 3 and 4 to be above the Petitioner.”

2. The petitioner is a BAMS qualified doctor rendering temporary services as a Medical Officer with the State of Maharashtra under the National Health Mission (NHM). The respondent No. 1- Pune Municipal Corporation (hereinafter as ‘the Corporation’ for short) published an advertisement in the newspaper and also on the website for recruitment of 177 posts in the Health Department from 32 categories of specialist doctors. Of these posts, 9 posts were for Ayurvedic Medical Officer (hereafter ‘AMO’ for short) in the pay scale of 1300-34800 plus grade pay of Rs. 5400/-. These posts of AMOs were listed at Serial No. 31 of the said advertisement. It is averred that the educational qualification prescribed for the post of “AMO is BAMS degree from Government recognized university/institution; 3 years related work experience is preferable”. Out of 9 posts of AMO, 3 posts were reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC), 2 posts for Scheduled Tribe (ST), 1 post for Denotified Tribes, 1 post for Nomadic Tribe-C and 2 posts for Other Backward Classes. Out of the 3 posts reserved for Scheduled Caste category, 1 post was reserved for women candidate. The petitioner submitted his application on May 2, 2020 along with the copies of the relevant eligible documents such as work experience and educational qualification. A Corrigendum was published by the Corporation on May 8, 2020. By a communication dated May 12, 2020, the candidates were called upon to submit their documents for scrutiny by May 18, 2020. The petitioner appeared before the Committee and got all his documents verified on the given date.

3. A provisional list for the post of AMO was published on July 8, 2020. In the said list, the petitioner (Sr. No. 162) was shown as provisionally qualified with total marks of 59.10. The Respondent No. 3 (Sr. No. 93) and respondent no.4 (Sr. No. 134) were shown as provisionally qualified with total marks of 52.67 and 57.32 respectively. As per the provisional list, the petitioner was having second highest marks amongst men in the SC category. The petitioner’s rank was 3rd amongst SC candidates. The Corporation delayed the publication of a list of successful candidates. The Corporation published a list of successful candidates for 81 posts from 21 categories. As the final list of AMO was not being declared, the petitioner along with similarly placed persons filed Writ Petition No. 5128 of 2022 in this Court. The following order came to be passed on May 13, 2022 in such writ petition: -

“1. These petitions seek to challenge inaction of the respondents in action of the respondents in not having declared results of the petitioners since August 2020.

2. Learned advocate for the Corporation is present today and she on the instructions from Mr.Sachin Ithape, Member Secretary and Deputy Commissioner (General Department) Pune Municipal Corporation states that the results will be declared without fail on or before 19th May 2022 and no extension will be sought under any circumstances. This becomes relevant since in Special Leave Petition bearing No. 19756/2021 the Supreme Court has directed the respondent/State Election Commission to notify the Election programme within 2 weeks from 4