A waiting-list candidate acquires no enforceable right to appointment against a Group-B gazetted post.

The Haryana Staff Selection Commission issued Advertisement No. 04/2015 for recruitment to various posts, including PGT (English), Category No. 05, with 10 posts reserved for Orthopaedically Handicapped (OH) candidates.

The petitioner applied under the OH category, appeared in the written examination, cleared it, and participated in document verification/interview.

In the final result dated 23 December 2018 and recommendation list dated 18 January 2019, the petitioner was placed in the waiting list, while respondent No. 4 was selected under the OH category.

Although the petitioner secured 114 marks and respondent No. 4 secured 113 marks, the respondents contended that respondent No. 4 was selected against the 33% horizontal reservation for women within the OH category.

Of the 10 OH posts, seven were allocated to male candidates and three to female candidates; the last selected male candidate secured 117 marks.

The petitioner challenged the result and recommendation list and sought consideration for appointment.

The respondents also argued that no enforceable right arose from the waiting list because the post was a Group-B Gazetted post to which the applicable waiting-list instructions did not extend.

Whether the petitioner, despite securing higher marks than respondent No. 4, was entitled to appointment against the OH category when respondent No. 4 had been selected against the horizontally reserved posts for women.

Whether the petitioner acquired an enforceable right to appointment by being placed in the waiting list for the post of PGT (English).

Whether the selection of respondent No. 4 and the petitioner’s placement in the waiting list were arbitrary or violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

Horizontal reservation for women operates within each vertical reservation category, including the OH category.

The clarification issued by the Chief Secretary, Haryana, dated 25 October 2021, interpreted the instructions dated 18 September 2018 as applicable to Group-B Non-Gazetted posts but not Group-B Gazetted posts; consequently, the waiting list for the post of PGT, treated as a Group-B Gazetted post, did not confer an enforceable right to appointment.

The Court relied on Shankarsan Dash v. Union of India, (1991) 3 SCC 47, as reiterated in Union of India v. K.V. Vijeesh, 1996 (3) SCC 139, for the rule that inclusion in a select list does not create an indefeasible right to appointment, though the State must act bona fide and respect comparative merit if vacancies are filled.

The Court relied on S.S. Balu v. State of Kerala, (2009) 2 SCC 439, for the principle that mandamus requires both a corresponding statutory duty and a legally enforceable right in the claimant.

The petitioner’s higher marks than respondent No. 4 were not determinative because the two candidates were not competing for the same seat.

Respondent No. 4 was selected against one of the three posts horizontally reserved for women within the OH category, whereas the petitioner competed for the seven OH posts allocated to male candidates.

Since the last selected male candidate had secured 117 marks and the petitioner had secured only 114 marks, the petitioner did not fall within the merit range for the male OH posts.

The waiting list could not create an enforceable right because the post was a Group-B Gazetted post and the applicable instructions extended only to Group-B Non-Gazetted posts.

In the absence of a statutory duty requiring the respondents to appoint the petitioner or operate the waiting list, the conditions for issuance of mandamus were not satisfied.

The selection of respondent No. 4 under the women’s horizontal reservation within the OH category was lawful, notwithstanding the petitioner’s higher overall marks, and the petitioner had no enforceable right arising from his placement in the waiting list.

Finding no illegality, arbitrariness, or violation of Articles 14 and 16, the Court dismissed the writ petition and disposed of any pending miscellaneous applications.