Jodhpur: Can a candidate lose a government job because of a debarment order passed after the recruitment process is over? The Rajasthan High Court has said no, holding that authorities cannot retrospectively deny appointment on that basis. While action can be taken against candidates accused of submitting forged documents, the Court said it must strictly follow the procedure prescribed by law.
The case arose from a batch of petitions filed by candidates selected for the post of Physical Training Instructor (PTI) in the 2022 recruitment, whose appointments were withheld because they had submitted non-genuine B.P.Ed. degrees during the 2018 selection.
While they were denied appointment in 2018, the authorities neither initiated criminal or departmental proceedings nor barred them from future recruitments. After obtaining fresh B.P.Ed. degrees from UGC-recognised universities, the candidates cleared the 2022 recruitment and made it to the final merit list.
However, instead of verifying their new qualifications, the authorities rejected their candidature based on the earlier incident, following which the RSSB issued a 9 April 2024 order permanently debarring them from future examinations.
Justice Kuldeep Mathur found that the action taken is legally unsustainable. The Court noted that the authorities had been aware of the issue since 2020 but failed to initiate proceedings under the applicable rules before the 2022 recruitment concluded.
The court further observed that the debarment order was issued without serving notice or giving the petitioners an opportunity to be heard.
Observing that “the power vested in the RSSB to debar a candidate cannot be exercised to take away the accrued rights of selected candidates who have already found a place in the provisional merit list,” the Court held that a later debarment order cannot be used to cancel an already completed selection. It added that although submitting forged documents is a serious offence, authorities must still follow the law and give candidates a fair opportunity to be heard.
The Court accordingly declared the debarment illegal and directed the authorities to verify the petitioners’ fresh educational qualifications.
If found genuine, they must be appointed according to merit within four months