Hyderabad: The Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) has challenged a Telangana High Court order in the Supreme Court, directing it to fill a vacant Drug Inspector post reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) category with the next eligible candidate on the merit list.
The case relates to a recruitment notification issued by TGPSC on December 8, 2022, for filling 18 Drug Inspector posts. Appointment orders were issued to 18 selected candidates who qualified in the examination. While 17 candidates joined service, one candidate selected under the SC category did not report for duty.
Following the vacancy, TGPSC halted the recruitment process. However, Kambhalapalli Mahendra, who was next in line in the merit list, approached the High Court seeking allocation of the vacant post.
HC’s ruling
The High Court ruled in his favour, observing that carrying forward a vacancy to the next recruitment cycle merely because a selected candidate did not join service could adversely affect meritorious candidates who may cross the age limit by the time fresh recruitment is undertaken. The court directed TGPSC to fill the vacancy with the next eligible candidate belonging to the same category from the existing merit list.
The High Court, however, clarified that vacancies arising after a candidate joins service and subsequently resigns could be carried forward to the next recruitment process.
HC verdict challenged
Challenging the verdict, TGPSC approached the Supreme Court. The matter came up for hearing on Tuesday, June 16, before a Bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice AS Chandurkar.
The case was adjourned to July 17 without detailed arguments being heard.
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