HC junks 2019 notification of giving 10 marks under socio-economic criteria for Haryana Govt jobs

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the Haryana government's 2019 notification which gave up to 10 bonus marks to candidates under the "socio-economic criteria" in the recruitment for government jobs. The division bench of justices Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Meenakshi I Mehta held the state government's June 11, 2019 notification to be in violation of Articles of 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The verdict came on several petitions filed by government job aspirants.

As per the 2019 notification of the state government, up to 10 marks were to be allotted to candidates under the socio-economic criterion. Maximum five marks were given to a candidate who does not have any family member in a government job and five additional marks were given if an applicant is a widow or belongs to nomadic tribes. "We find that the selection process has been tainted on account of granting of bonus marks. If the bonus marks are deleted from the selection process, the meritorious candidates would have been selected.

"Such a selection which is solely based on acquiring bonus marks would be in violation of the principles of equality as enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. "By carving out an artificial class of applicants who would be entitled to five bonus marks (up to 10), the principles enshrined under Article 16 would stand violated. No other reservation, except the one as available under Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution, can be laid by any state," said the bench in its May 22 order.

The court found that the state conducted the entire selection in a "wholly slipshod manner". "The notification of granting the 10 bonus marks for socio-economic criteria and experience is not based on any rules framed under the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution. It is also noticed that no data was collected before laying down such socio-economic criteria. "We further find that once the reservations have already been provided statutorily under the EWS category, as well as on account of social backwardness by providing reservation for backward class, further granting benefit under socio-economic criteria would lead to breach of 50 per cent ceiling limit," said the order while citing the Indira Sawhney Vs Union of India case.

Haryana government jobs

The court stated, "What cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly". The bench applied the theory of "no fault" with regard to candidates who would be ousted from the merit list, though they had cleared the written examination and have been working for quite a long time now. "We also notice that the candidates, who would have been appointed, went under a cumbersome selection process and their appointments were made in terms of the method and manner of selection as in the advertisement. "Although, we have not approved the economic criteria adopted vide notification dated 11.06.2019, such appointments ought not be made to suffer," stated the bench.

"We, therefore, save their appointments with a condition that they would have no claim for seniority in terms of the advertisement of 2019. "We, therefore, find that notification dated 11.06.2019 to be in violation of Articles of 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India and the same is accordingly declared ultra vires and liable to be quashed and set aside," it said. The court further directed that the state would be required to publish a revised result, and on the basis of the revised result, the candidates who are found to be meritorious, would be entitled to be considered for appointment for the posts concerned advertised in 2019.