JUDGMENT

Mohit Kumar Shah, J. - The present writ petition has been filed for setting aside the illegal list of candidates, shortlisted for documents verification with regard to appointment on the post of ANM (NUHM), in pursuance to the advertisement No. 12 of 2019, issued by the respondent no. 2. The petitioners have further prayed for directing the respondent-authorities to follow the guidelines issued by the State Health Society of Bihar (herein after referred to as the "Health Society"), with regard to publication of result of the petitioners and others as well as to take fair and impartial steps with regard to publication of the result of the computer based test appertaining to the said Advertisement No. 12 of 2019, as far as the post of ANM (NUHM) is concerned and then prepare the merit list for the purposes of appointment on the post of ANM (NUHM).

2. The brief facts of the case are that an advertisement bearing Advertisement No. 12 of 2019 dated 27.12.2019 was issued by the Health Society, Patna for the purposes of making appointment on the post of Lab Technician (NUHM) and ANM (NUHM). As far as the Lab Technician (NUHM) is concerned, total number of posts advertised were 100 and as far as ANM (NUHM) is concerned, the total number of posts advertised were 500. Clause-12 of the aforesaid Advertisement No. 12 of 2019 prescribes the basis for selection. Under the said clause-12, it has been stipulated that the merit list shall be prepared on the basis of the marks obtained in the computer based test (CBT), which would be of 50 marks as well as on the basis of academic qualification, which would also be of 50 marks. The petitioners are stated to have filled application forms Online and as far as the petitioners no. 1 and 2 are concerned, they belong to the Most Backward Class (female) category and as far as the petitioner no.3 is concerned, she also belongs to the female, Economically weaker section category. The Admit cards were then issued to the eligible candidates including the petitioners herein and they had sat for the computer examination on 14.03.2020, however, it is the grievance of the petitioners that the computer based result has not been published till date.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioners has submitted that as per the scheme of selection prescribed in the aforesaid Advertisement No. 12 of 2019, it is imperative to first publish the computer based test results and then publish the merit list, taking into account the marks pertaining to the academic qualifications and only then the appointment can be made, however, the said procedure has not been adopted by the respondent Health Society, hence, the entire selection process has been rendered illegal and void. The learned counsel for the petitioners has further referred to the guidelines issued by the Health Society, which is at Annexure-5 series to the writ petition and it has been submitted that after conduct of the computer based online test, a merit list was required to be prepared and only then shortlisted candidates were required to be called for document verification/ counseling in the ratio of 1:1.5, however, the said process has not been followed by the respondents.

4. Per contra, the learned counsel for the Health Society has submitted by referring to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the respondents no. 2 and 3, that the petitioners had submitted application against the Advertisement no. 12 of 2019 for their appointment on the post of ANM (NUHM) along with the requisite documents and fees and had also appeared in the computer based test held on 14.03.2020. It is also submitted that Clause-12 of the said Advertisement No. 12 of 2019 prescribes the mode of selection process as well as the criteria for selection and both computer based test and academic qualifications carry 50 marks each. It is further submitted that after holding the computer based test, the respondent- Health Society had prepared as list of qualified candidates whereupon th