Preparation of a recruitment waiting list is not mandatory unless expressly required by statutory rules.

The petitioner applied for the post of Sanitary Inspector pursuant to an advertisement dated 16.12.2018

The State published the merit list of selected candidates on 17.09.2018, in which the petitioner failed to secure a position

The respondent authorities did not prepare or publish a waiting list, and the legality of the original select list expired on 17.09.2019

The petitioner approached the High Court seeking a direction to the respondents to consider his case for appointment, contending he would be entitled to the post if a waiting list had been prepared

Whether a candidate has a legal right to claim appointment against unfilled posts in the absence of a statutory provision or rule requiring the preparation of a waiting list

Vallampati Sathish Babu v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Others (2022) 13 SCC 193, which established that in the absence of specific statutory rules or provisions, there is no requirement for recruitment authorities to prepare a waiting list

The principle dictates that any posts remaining unfilled due to the non-appearance or non-acceptance of candidates in the final selection list must be carried forward for future recruitment rather than offered to the next candidate in merit, unless a waiting list is mandated by law

Division Bench decision of the Chhattisgarh High Court in Sailesh Sharma v. State of Chhattisgarh & Another (Writ Appeal No. 124/2025)

The court examined the petitioner's claim against the established recruitment procedure and the respondents' return.

It noted that the petitioner was not included in the original select list

Applying the "Rule of Law" from Vallampati Sathish Babu, the court observed that the petitioner cannot claim a right to appointment simply because a post remained vacant, as there was no statutory provision requiring the State to maintain a waiting list

The court reasoned that since the rules applicable to the recruitment did not provide for a waiting list, the authorities were not obligated to prepare one, and the petitioner—having failed to make the merit list—possessed no inherent right to be considered for any resulting vacancies

the court took cognizance of the fact that the validity of the published select list had already expired

Consequently, the court found no merit in the petition and dismissed it