Order on Board

1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:-

“10.1 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to issue a writ/writs, direction/directions, order/orders respondents may kindly be directed to consider the case of the petitioner for appointment on the post of Assistant Professor (Hindi) Higher Education Department through the waiting list.

10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to direct the respondent authorities to consider and decide the representation (Annexure P/7) of the petitioner.

10.3 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to grant any other relief/relief's in favour of the petitioner, which the Hon'ble Court deemed fit & just in the facts and circumstances of the case, including awarding of the costs to the petitioner.”

2. Brief facts of the case, is that, the instant petition has been preferred before this Hon’ble Court against the arbitrary and unjustified inaction on the part of the respondent authorities, whereby the petitioner has been deprived of his rightful consideration for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor (Hindi) from the waiting list, despite the fact that one candidate of the same category has not joined at the place of posting and the petitioner is placed at Serial No. 1 in the overall waiting list. The petitioner has repeatedly approached the respondent authorities since the beginning, seeking consideration for appointment upon clearance of the waiting list; however, neither has his claim been considered nor has the waiting list been operated or exhausted. The Public Service Commission issued an advertisement dated 23.01.2019, followed by a corrigendum dated 08.01.2021, inviting applications for various posts of Assistant Professors in different subjects, including 50 posts for Assistant Professor (Hindi), out of which 20 posts were unreserved, 05 for Scheduled Castes, 15 for Scheduled Tribes, 06 for Other Backward Classes, and 04 backlog posts. The petitioner, belonging to the OBC category, duly applied for the said post, appeared in the written examination, and upon declaration of the result, the final selection list along with the merit and waiting list was published on 25.02.2021, wherein the petitioner was placed at Serial No. 1 in the overall waiting list. Subsequently, posting orders for 40 selected candidates were issued on 04.01.2022, and appointment orders for the remaining 10 candidates were also issued on different dates. One such selected candidate, namely Shivnandan Shukla, placed at Serial No. 11 in the final selection list, was allotted posting at Government Rani Durgavati College, Wadrafnagar, District Balrampur (C.G.) on 24.03.2022; however, he has not joined the said post and is presently serving as Assistant Professor (Hindi) in the State of Uttar Pradesh. In such circumstances, since the petitioner, being an OBC candidate, stands first in the waiting list, he is entitled to be considered for appointment against the said vacant post. Despite this, the respondent authorities have failed to take any action, and the petitioner’s repeated representations have gone unheeded, with the waiting list neither being operated nor cleared, without any justifiable reason.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the action of the respondent authorities in not considering the petitioner’s candidature for appointment from the waiting list is wholly illegal, arbitrary, and contrary to settled principles of law. It is contended that the petitioner is placed at Serial No. 1 in the overall waiting list and, therefore, has a legitimate right to be considered for appointment against the vacant post which has remained unfilled due to non-joining of a selected candidate. It is further submitted that one of the selected candidates, namely Shivnandan Shukla, placed at Serial No. 11 in the select list, is already serving under the State of Uttar Pradesh and has not joined the post of Assistant P