In a crucial decision impacting Rajasthan’s major recruitment process, the Rajasthan High Court has invalidated category-wise merit lists in the Class IV Employee Recruitment-2024. The court ruled that appointing candidates who secured nearly zero marks without minimum qualifying criteria would be unconstitutional.
Following a petition by Vinod Kumar, the bench of Justice Anand Sharma directed the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board to establish minimum qualifying standards and issue new merit lists for affected categories. This recruitment drive, involving over 2.1 million candidates, was the largest conducted by the state government.
The High Court emphasized the importance of maintaining a minimum standard in public service even for Grade IV government positions. It highlighted that selecting candidates with almost zero marks due to the absence of minimum qualifying marks was unjustifiable. The court set aside merit lists in various categories where cut-off marks had dropped to extremely low levels.
Advocate Harendra Neel, representing the petitioner, argued that candidates with negative marks should also be considered for appointment since the recruitment rules did not specify minimum qualifying marks. The court rejected the argument that candidates with zero marks could be selected while those with negative marks were ineligible, emphasizing the need for legal sustainability in recruitment processes.
The Rajasthan Staff Selection Board and the Department of Personnel contended that the Class IV recruitment rules did not include provisions for minimum qualifying marks. However, the court disagreed, stating that the absence of minimum standards in recruitment processes could not be upheld legally. Consequently, the court instructed authorities to establish minimum qualifying marks and revise merit lists accordingly.
