Can Eligibility Criteria for Government Job Recruitment be Altered Once the Process Has Begun?

What are the implications of the Supreme Court's decision on government job recruitment processes?

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that appointment criteria for public sector jobs cannot be altered during the process unless specifically permitted.

The ruling was delivered by a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, who specified that recruitment begins with advertisement publication and concludes when positions are filled.

"Eligibility criteria for being placed in the select list notified at the commencement of the recruitment process can't be changed midway through the recruitment process unless the extant rules so permit or the advertisement which is not contrary to the extant rules so permit," the bench observed while adding that transparency and non-discrimination must be the hallmarks of public recruitment.

The SC constitutional bench, which included Justices Hrishikesh Roy, P S Narasimha, Pankaj Mithal and Manoj Misra, unanimously observed that any permitted changes must comply with Article 14 of the Constitution and demonstrate non-arbitrariness.

Justice Misra, delivering the verdict, stated that recruitment organisations may establish suitable procedures to complete the selection process, provided these are transparent, fair, and rationally connected to the intended outcome.

The court specified that when vacancies exist, authorities cannot unreasonably deny appointments to qualified candidates within the selection list's consideration zone.

"Recruiting bodies subject to the extant rules may devise appropriate procedure for bringing the recruitment process to its logical end provided the procedure so adopted is transparent, non-discriminatory, non-arbitrary and has a rationale nexus to the object sought to be achieved," Justice Mishra said.

The ruling also addressed a question about government job appointment criteria, which a three-judge bench had referred to in March 2013. The earlier bench had referenced a 1965 verdict emphasising the principle against state altering the 'rules of the game'.

"Whether such a principle should be applied in the context of the 'rules of the game' stipulating the procedure for selection more particularly when the change sought is to impose a more rigorous scrutiny for selection requires an authoritative pronouncement of a larger bench of this court," the three-judge bench had said.

In other significant rulings during the day, the apex court ordered the liquidation of all assets belonging to the Jet Airways airline operator, setting aside the NCLAT verdict approving transfer of grounded air carrier Jet Airways to Jalan Kalrock Consortium.