Supreme Court: The bench of MR Shah* and BV Nagarathna, JJ has held that as per Rule 16 of the Andhra Pradesh Direct Recruitment for the post of Teachers (Scheme of Selection) Rules, 2012, a candidate does not have right to claim any appointment to the post which remained unfilled in absence of provision for waiting list.
In the case at hand, the selection process was carried out by the State of Andhra Pradesh for recruitment of teachers. 33 posts were notified and therefore the recruitment process was started for the notified 33 vacancies. The merit list/select list of 33 candidates was published. However, one of the selected candidates did not appear for counselling and therefore, one post remained vacant. The appellant being the next meritorious candidate, claimed the appointment to the unfilled post.
While the A.P. Administrative Tribunal allowed the said claim, the Andhra Pradesh High Court set aside the order passed by the Tribunal and held that considering the relevant statutory provisions and the Guidelines for the purpose of preparation of the select list, the appellant shall not have any claim to the post, which remained unfilled, as there was no provision for the waiting list.
On a fair reading of Rule 16 of the Andhra Pradesh Direct Recruitment for the post of Teachers (Scheme of Selection) Rules, 2012 read with the Guidelines referred to hereinabove, the Supreme Court observed that once the final selection list is prepared, there shall be no waiting list and posts, if any, are unfilled for any reason whatsoever, shall be carried forward for future recruitment as per sub-Rule (5) of Rule 16 of the Rules, 2012.
Hence, as there was no requirement of preparation of a waiting list, the appellant claiming to be the next in the merit cannot claim any appointment as his name neither figured in the list of the selected candidates nor in any waiting list as there was no provision at all for preparation of the waiting list. Sub-rule (5) of Rule 16 is very clear. Therefore, the post that remained unfilled due to one of the candidates in the final list did not appear for counselling and/or accepted the employment has to be carried forward for the next recruitment.
The Court held that,
“In absence of any specific provision for waiting list and on the contrary, there being a specific provision that there shall not be any waiting list and that the post remaining unfilled on any ground shall have to be carried forward for the next recruitment. The appellant herein, thus, had no right to claim any appointment to the post which remained unfilled.”
[Vallampati Sathish Babu v. State of Andhra Pradesh, 2022 SCC OnLine SC 470, decided on 19.04.2022]
*Judgment by: Justice MR Shah
Counsels
For appellant: Senior Advocate V. Mohan
For State: Advocate Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki