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2025 Supreme(Online)(Pat) 871
PATNA HIGH COURT
HARISH KUMAR, J
Suman Kumar – Appellant
Versus
The State of Bihar – Respondent
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.17892 of 2024
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Ram Shankar Das
For the Respondents: Mr. Madhukar Mishra, Mr. Nikesh Kumar, Mr. Akshansh Shanker
Recruitment criteria must remain consistent with laws and rules at the time of advertisement, and changes made retrospectively during the selection process are impermissible.
Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Article 341 - Recruitment process - The petitioners challenged the Bihar Technical Service Commission's amendment that altered selection criteria mid-process, alleging violation of equal opportunity. The Court affirmed that changes cannot retrospectively affect recruitment criteria established at the time of application. (Paras 2-4, 12-15)
(B) Caste reservation - The litigation centered on the classification of 'Tanti-Tantwa' caste, transitioned from Scheduled Castes to Extremely Backward Class. The Supreme Court ruled that recruitment processes must adhere to prevailing rules at advertisement time, and post-publication changes cannot invalidate claims made under prior classifications. (Paras 9-11, 26)
Facts of the case:
Petitioners sought appointment as Trade Instructors under a 2023 advertisement but were excluded following a 2024 notification regarding caste classification adjustments, leading to their disqualification from the Scheduled Caste category.
Findings of Court:
The Court held that the amendment processes affecting caste classification after recruitment commencement are impermissible, reinforcing applicants' rights as defined at the advertisement time.
Issues: The principal issue was the legality of altering recruitment classifications mid-selection and whether such changes hold retrospective validity.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court emphasized that recruitment criteria cannot be modified retroactively without infringing applicants' rights as ensured by constitutional mandates.
Result: Petition dismissed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. petitioners identified and seeking employment. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. changes in recruitment rules challenged. (Para 3 , 4 , 7 , 10 , 11 , 13) |
| 3. petitioners' caste classification scenario. (Para 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 14) |
| 4. supreme court ruling impacts selection process. (Para 12 , 19) |
| 5. court's authority and retrospective judgments. (Para 15 , 16 , 26) |
| 6. rulings on judgment applicability and retrospective effect. (Para 17 , 23 , 24) |
| 7. procedural correctness and retrospective application. (Para 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25) |
| 8. writ petition dismissed, costs to parties. (Para 27) |
JUDGMENT
Date : 11-08-2025
Heard the parties.
2. The petitioners, who are the aspirants for the post of Trade Instructor (Fitter) in terms with Advertisement No. 10 of 2023, have approached this Court on being aggrieved with the Resolution no. 03/Pari-BTSC-64/2019-3343 dated 30.10.2024, whereby the Bihar Technical Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Commission’) came out with an important notice in connection with subject “Advertisement”, in consequent to which the petitioners have been excluded from the zone of consideration, by changing the rule of game in midway of the recruitment process. The petitioners further sought a direction commanding upon the respondent Commission to select and appoint the petitioners on the basis of the prescription of the subject “Advertisement” by treating the petitioners under the prescribed reserved category of Scheduled Caste, on which category they were falling on the date of advertisement.
3. Assailing the action of the respondent Commission and the impugned resolution dated 30.10.2024, learned Advocate for the petitioners, Mr. Ram Shankar Das submitted with all vehemence that the method and manner of selection in the midst cannot be altered/changed depriving the petitioners of the guarantee of equal opportunity in the matter of public employment; so the petitioners are entitled to be considered for appointment against the post, which were duly advertised and filled up as per the Rules prevalent at the time of advertisement.
4. Referring to the Advertisement, especially Clause 4(vii), learned Advocate for the petitioners submitted that there was a specific stipulation that the recruitment process shall be taken place in the light of Memo No. 16144 dated 28.11.2012 issued by the General Administration Department and there shall be no modification/change in the reservation category during the recruitment process. Clause 8 thereof further made it clear that all the certificates pertaining to eligibility of a candidate, including the certificate for claiming reservation shall be valid only, the particulars of which was duly mentioned in the Online application form. However, all the certificate must have been issued prior to the cut off date on 03.08.2023.
5. In tune with the terms of the advertisement, the petitioners, who were the candidates falling under the category of Scheduled Caste submitted their respective castes certificates along with necessary documents. The petitioners along with others upon receipt of the admit-card participated in the examination and declared successful, whereupon called for the document verification. List of selected candidates under different streams along with respective cut off marks were issued and they were called for document verification. In the meanwhile, the Commission vide letter no. 3178 dated 15.10.2024 directed the candidates to submit their valid caste certificate, failing which the claim of reserved category may be changed or considered appropriately. It is respectfully submitted that petitioner no.1 and 2 have filed their Online applications under Scheduled Caste category and both have claimed their respective caste category on the basis of their caste as “Tanti- Tantwa”. However, while the recruitment process was going on in the meanwhile the Department of General Administration, Government of Bihar in compliance with the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
