DURGAPUR STEEL PLANT Vs. BIDHAN CHANDRA CHOWDHURY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) These appeals arise out of the order dtd. 19/7/2019 and the judgment dtd. 27/9/2019 passed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court (High Court) in a writ petition. By its order dtd. 19/7/2019, the High Court granted liberty to the Appellant No.2 to examine and assess the candidature of the respondents for appointment to the post of Plant Attendant-cum-Junior Technician (Plant Attendant), and directed that the result of such assessment be produced before it. Subsequently, by judgment dtd. 27/9/2019, the High Court affirmed the order dtd. 27/3/2018 passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (Tribunal), Calcutta Bench, and dismissed the writ petition preferred by the appellants.

(3.) The facts, in brief, leading to the filing of these appeals are as follows. The appellant no.1, namely Durgapur Steel Plant, is one of the five integrated Steel Plants of Steel Authority of India Limited, a Public Sector Enterprise of the Central Government. An advertisement dtd. 16/10/2007 was issued by Appellant No.1, for recruitment to the post of Plant Attendant. Initially, 90 posts were advertised, which were subsequently increased to 150 and thereafter to 200 posts due to additional requirements. The selection process comprised a written examination and an interview, followed by a medical examination of successful candidates. The conduct of the written examination was outsourced to an independent agency. In response to the advertisement, 52,000 applications were received. The written examination was conducted on 23/3/2008, in which 29,459 candidates appeared; out of these 1,530 candidates qualified and their names were published on the website.