Recruitment processes must adhere to principles of transparency and fairness, ensuring candidates' rights are upheld following initial selection criteria.

ORDER

PER: MRS. RASHMI SAXENA SAHNI, MEMBER (A)

1. Present original application has been filed by the applicant under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 , seeking following relief:-

i. To direct the respondent undertaking to issue an appointment letter forthwith to the applicant on the post of Bus (Heavy Vehicle) Driver i.e. in pursuance to the selection letter dated 29.09.2016 (Annexure A- 4).

ii. To direct the respondent undertaking to pay the salary to the-applicant October, 2016 i.e. from the date/month in which the applicant was called to join the Department at the salary in the pay scale of 5200- 20200, and more specifically as per the selection letter dated 29.09.2016 (Annexure A-4).

2. Facts of the case are that the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking issued an advertisement in the year 2015 for the posts of Bus (Heavy Vehicle) Driver. As per the said advertisement, there were in total 114 posts, out of which 44 posts were for general category. The pay scale for the said post was 5910-20200. The qualifications for the said post were (1) Matric (2) Should hold a valid license to drive heavy transport vehicle and (3) at least five years experience to drive heavy transport vehicles and has not been convicted for any offence indicating that he not capable of performing efficiently the duties of the post. The age bracket was of 25 years till 35 years. The selection criterion was that firstly a written test of 100 marks shall be conducted. The break-up of 100 marks was-knowledge of Motor Vehicle Act and Traffic Rules-50 Marks; knowledge of bus/vehicle repair/maintenance-40 marks and basic knowledge of first aid-10 marks. The qualifying mark was kept as 30 marks for general category and 25 marks for SC category. Further, the candidates who qualify the test were to be called in the ratio of 1:20 of the vacancies in each category (on the basis of merit) for the driving test. The driving test also consisted of three components:-

(a) Dug/Ramp Test (Reverse Driving Test) one chance;

(b) 8 shape driving test (for only those who qualify the dug/ramp test) one chance;

(c) Road test (for only those who qualify both (a) and (b) test above) one chance.

3. The candidates were also called for counselling test and only after being held eligible, the candidates to be called for the skill test. The passing of skill test was a must for appointment and any candidate failing in the driving skill test was not to be given appointment. Only one chance was to be given for the driving test. The final selection was to be made on the basis of the written examination. The last date for the submission of the application was 30.11.2015. The applicant applied and appeared in the written test held on 07.02.2016 and cleared the same as per result dated 13.02.2016. He was called for counselling and verification of documents. The documents were scrutinized and he was found to be eligible for the Driving Skill Test, which was scheduled for 27.07.2016. The applicant appeared in the driving skill test and also cleared the same, and was finally issued the selection letter dated 29.09.2016 (Annexure A-4), in terms of which it is clearly stated that as per result dated 13.02.2016 (with, respect to written test), and also after qualifying the driving skill test for post of heavy bus driver, the name of the applicant has been selected for the post of heavy bus driver in the undertaking. The applicant was also called for reporting to the office of the undertaking on 07.10.2016 with the documents. In addition, it w