Local residency requirements for district cadre vacancies are inapplicable to recruitments for divisional cadre posts.

The Director of Health Services, Chhattisgarh, issued an advertisement on 17.08.2020 for the recruitment of 151 Staff Nurses/Staff Attendants across various divisions, including Bastar and Sarguja.

The petitioners, local residents of these divisions, participated in the recruitment process and challenged the final selection list dated 18.03.2021, which included 24 "outsider" candidates (Respondents No. 5 to 23).

The petitioners contended that a General Administration Department (GAD) notification dated 28.05.2019 mandated that Class III and Class IV posts in Bastar and Sarguja be filled exclusively by local residents of those districts.

They sought to quash the selection of the private respondents and a direction for their own appointment.

1. Whether the post of Staff Nurse is classified as a "District Cadre" post or a "Divisional Cadre" post under the relevant service rules.

2. Whether the restrictive eligibility criteria of the GAD notification dated 28.05.2019, favoring local residents of specific divisions, applied to the recruitment in question.

Chhattisgarh Health and Family Welfare Department Non-Clerical Paramedical and Nursing (Directorate Health Services) Class III Service Recruitment Rules, 2013.

General Administration Department Notification dated 28.05.2019, which provides for local residency preferences specifically for "district cadre" vacancies.

Conditions stipulated in the recruitment advertisement dated 17.08.2020, particularly Clauses 4 and 5, regarding divisional application and state-wide residency requirements.

The court examined the interplay between the GAD notification and the recruitment rules and noted that the 28.05.2019 notification, which limits eligibility to local residents of Bastar and Sarguja, applies strictly to "district cadre" posts.

Upon reviewing the Recruitment Rules of 2013, the court determined that the post of Staff Nurse is a Class III post falling under the "Divisional Cadre," not the "District Cadre".

The court observed that Condition No. 5 of the advertisement required candidates to be permanent residents of the State of Chhattisgarh, and Clause 4 allowed candidates to apply for any one division, rather than restricting them to their home district.

The court found the petitioners' argument—that outsider participation was prohibited—to be legally misconceived as the local residency restriction did not extend to divisional cadre recruitments.

The court denied the relief sought by the petitioners to quash the appointment of the private respondents and the petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.