Non-joinder of necessary parties rendered the application legally untenable.

The applicant challenged Notice No. 23-2/NS/SN-Rectt.-/2018/3193 dated 21 April 2018 and sought reconsideration of the selection process for appointment as Nursing Officer/Staff Nurse under Recruitment Notice No. 18/2014.

His name appeared at Serial No. 16 in the list of Scheduled Caste candidates found eligible for appointment on a regular basis at Lady Hardinge Medical College and associated SSK and KSC Hospitals, with rank 1959.

He alleged that candidates with lower ranks had been recommended, whereas his candidature had been excluded.

The respondents objected that the dispute concerned a process conducted by Lady Hardinge Medical College and its associated hospitals, which had not been impleaded as parties.

On being questioned, the applicant admitted that he had not submitted any written representation to the competent authority or to the concerned hospitals and had only made physical visits.

Whether the Original Application was maintainable in the absence of Lady Hardinge Medical College and its associated SSK and KSC Hospitals, which were necessary and proper parties to the dispute?

Whether the applicant had established a sustainable cause of action by producing supporting material and pursuing an appropriate remedy, including a written representation, within a reasonable time?

Whether the applicant was entitled to quashing of the notice dated 21 April 2018 and reconsideration of his candidature for appointment as Nursing Officer/Staff Nurse?

The Tribunal applied the procedural principles that a proceeding may fail for non-joinder of necessary parties where effective relief cannot be granted in their absence, and that a litigant seeking discretionary relief must approach the court with clean hands and supporting material.

It further applied the principles of delay and laches and the requirement that an applicant demonstrate a subsisting cause of action by pursuing an appropriate remedy within a reasonable period.

The Tribunal found that the challenged selection process related to Lady Hardinge Medical College and its associated hospitals, yet those institutions had not been impleaded. Their absence prevented effective adjudication of the applicant’s claim and constituted non-joinder of necessary parties.

Although the applicant’s name had appeared in the eligibility list, he produced no substantive supporting material demonstrating entitlement to appointment or unlawful exclusion.

His admission that he had made no written representation, but had merely approached officials physically, did not establish that he had invoked an appropriate remedy or preserved a legally actionable grievance.

The Tribunal consequently held that the applicant had slept over his rights and had not approached the Tribunal within the appropriate period or with clean hands.

It held that the application was defective for non-joinder of the concerned hospitals and unsupported by sufficient material or a timely, properly pursued grievance.

The challenge to the notice dated 21 April 2018 and the request for reconsideration of the applicant’s candidature were therefore rejected, and O.A. No. 2740/2018 was dismissed.

Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, were also disposed of, with no order as to costs.