Advanced-stage recruitment can't be scrapped on flimsy grounds: DB
24/04/2026
JAMMU, Apr 23: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that a recruitment process which has reached an advanced stage cannot be scrapped on weak or purely technical grounds, while dismissing appeals filed by the Union Territory and restoring the selection process for Assistant Engineers (AE) and Junior Engineers (JE) in JAKEDA.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal dismissed the Letters Patent Appeals (LPA), upholding the earlier decision of the Writ Court.
The Writ Court had set aside Order No. 08-JAKEDA of 2019 dated December 2, 2019, through which the recruitment initiated under Advertisement Notice Nos. 1 and 2 of 2017 was cancelled.
The court noted that 77 posts had been advertised by the J&K Energy Development Agency and that the written examination had already been conducted through an agency engaged after obtaining administrative approval.
However, the process was scrapped on the ground that the agency had been appointed without issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Expression of Interest (EOI), allegedly depriving other agencies of participation.
Rejecting the UT's contention, the Bench observed that the cancellation order did not indicate any fraud, malpractice, illegality or incompetence in the conduct of the examination.
It held that non-issuance of an RFP or EOI was merely a procedural lapse and could not justify scrapping a recruitment process at an advanced stage. The court termed the reason cited for cancellation as "illusory in nature".
The Bench also declined to accept the argument that changes in the reservation roster following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, including the introduction of EWS and PSP categories, warranted cancellation of the process.
It noted that this ground did not form part of the original cancellation order and therefore could not be relied upon subsequently to justify the decision.
Reiterating that the State's power to cancel a recruitment process is not absolute and must rest on bona fide and rational grounds, the court found no merit in the appeals and dismissed them, paving the way for completion of the long-pending recruitment process.
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