ORDER :

1. At the outset, it is relevant to note that the present writ petition was preferred by total 119 petitioners. Vide order dated 20.04.2022, the petition was dismissed qua petitioners Nos.4, 5, 10, 13, 22, 24, 31, 40, 42, 43, 47, 54, 55, 56, 68, 69, 73, 74, 81, 82, 83, 87, 88, 98, 101, 102, 103 & 104 i.e. 28 petitioners. The present petition now survives only qua the remaining petitioners and therefore the present judgment would govern all the petitioners except petitioners Nos.4, 5, 10, 13, 22, 24, 31, 40, 42, 43, 47, 54, 55, 56, 68, 69, 73, 74, 81, 82, 83, 87, 88, 98, 101, 102, 103 & 104 (28 in number).

2. The present writ petition has been preferred against the information/communication dated 20.09.2019 (Annexure-6) whereby complete recruitment process pertaining to recruitment of ‘Watchmen for manning posts’ undertaken by the Food Corporation of India (hereinafter referred to as ‘the FCI’) has been cancelled.

3. The case of the petitioners is that in pursuance to advertisement No. FCI-RAJASTHAN/01/2017 issued by the FCI for recruitment to the post of ‘Watchmen for manning posts’ in its Depots and Offices for 281 number of vacancies, all the petitioners had applied. After the completion of the selection process including the Written Test, Physical Endurance Test (PET) and Medical Test, on 28.03.2018, the provisional select list was issued by the respondent Department in terms of which all the petitioners stood selected.

4. Being provisionally selected, the petitioners were awaiting appointment orders but on 20.09.2019, an information was uploaded by the respondent Department on its official website to the effect that before issuing the appointment orders to the successful candidates, a Committee was constituted at the regional level for verification of the documents and the Committee pointed out certain discrepancies/irregularities and therefore, the matter was referred to the CBI for investigation. As per the report of the CBI, serious irregularities were found in the written test and attendance sheet of PET of certain candidates and therefore, criminal case has been directed to be registered. As the CBI report proves that no sanctity had been maintained in the recruitment process and there had been irregularities and impersonation in the same, the recruitment process stands cancelled. It is against the said information dated 20.09.2019 uploaded on the official website of the respondent Department that the present writ petition has been preferred.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioners raised the following grounds:

(i) Similar recruitment process was conducted for the States of Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala also and discrepancies were found in the said recruitment process too, but the complete process has not been cancelled in any of the States. Only the tainted candidates have been excluded and those untainted have been afforded appointment. Therefore, the same process ought to have been adopted in the State of Rajasthan too and cancellation of complete recruitment process cannot be held to be valid.

(ii) The same agency against which the allegations have been levelled qua the recruitment in question, was the recruitment agency in the State of Gujarat too and therein because of specific conclusion of only 4 candidates to be tainted, only they were excluded and other candidates were afforded appointment.

(iii) So far as the present recruitment is concerned, only 14 candidates had been concluded by the CBI to be involved and even the criminal case had been directed to be registered against those 14 candidates only. Therefore, when the tainted candidates were specifically identified, only they could have been penalised and all the remaining candidates who were not found to be involved in any sought of malpractice could not have been denied appointment and the complete recruitment process ought not to have