IMPORTANT POINT
Selected candidates do not have an indefeasible right to appointment; the state may issue new advertisements and change qualifications without legal obligation to fill prior vacancies.

JUDGMENT :

ABDUL MOIN, J.

1. Rejoinder affidavit filed today in Court is taken on record.

2. Heard Sri Deep Narayan Tripathi, learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel appearing for respondent no. 1, and Sri Prashant Kumar Singh, learned counsel appearing for respondents no. 2 to 4.

3. Instant petition has been filed praying for the following reliefs:

“(i) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite parties to make selection of the petitioner on the post of Assistant Professor, Agriculture Business Management belonging to general category in order of panel/merit list in the process of selection on said post under Advt. no. 9/2021 dated 30.12.2021.

(ii) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of Mandamus commanding the opposite parties to not hold the selection process on the post of Assistant Many Professor, Agriculture Business Management belonging to general category under Advt. no. 3/2024 dated 04.03.2024.

(ii-a) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the selection and appointment on the post of Assistant Many Professor, Agriculture Business Management belonging to general category through Advertisement No. 9/2021.

(iii. to issue a writ, order or direction to the opposite parties to grant approval of selection and appointment of the petitioner on the post of Assistant Professor, Agriculture Business Management belonging to general category under Advt. no. 9/2021 dated 30.12.2021.

(iv) to issue any other order of direction which this Hon’ble Court may deems fit and proper under the circumstances of the case.

(v) to allow the writ petition throughout cost.”

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner states that inadvertently while incorporating the amendment as made in prayer ‘ii-a’ the advertisement number has been indicated as ‘9/2021’ rather the same should be 3 of 2024.

5. The aforesaid statement of learned counsel for the petitioner is recorded.

6. Bereft of unnecessary details, the facts of the case are that an advertisement no. 9/2021 dated 30.12.2021 had been issued by respondent no. 2, a copy of which is Annexure-1 to the petition, inviting applications for various posts in the University including the post of Assistant Professor, Agriculture Business Management. The number of posts were indicated as three - one for unreserved, one for OBC and one for SC/ST. As the petitioner belongs to the General Category as such he applied for the said post under the unreserved category.

7. It is contended that a written examination was conducted by the respondents in which the petitioner claims to have qualified. Thereafter, interview letter dated 21.11.2022 was issued. The result had been declared on 11.09.2023. Incidentally the result has not been annexed along with the writ petition. It is contended that the result did not contain the name of the petitioner rather one Sri Ashutosh Chaturvedi was selected on the said post. Even before Sri Chaturvedi could be appointed, a complaint was made against his selection which resulted in his selection being cancelled. It is contended that subsequent thereto, instead of respondents proceeding further with the waiting list, if any, that may have been prepared in which the petitioner might have qualified they have issued an advertisement no. 3 of 2024, a copy of which is Annexure-2 to the petition, on 04.03.2024 whereby apart from inviting application on various other posts the post of Assistant Professor, Agriculture Business Management has again been advertised and there are three posts as per earlier advertisement itself.

8. Raising a challenge to the advertisement dated 04.03.2024 no. 3 of 2024 as well as praying for selecting the petitioner on the post of Assistant Professor, Agriculture Business Management on the basis of the earlier advertisement no. 9 of 2021 the instant petition has been filed.

9. So far as the prayer for making selection on the post concerned in terms of the earlier advertisement