MANISH SHARMA Vs. LT GOVERNOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred by a General category candidate assailing his non-selection in the Delhi Higher Judicial Services. The petitioner was a candidate in the Delhi Higher Judicial Service Examination 2015 ("DHJSE 2015" for short) and having been placed at the third position in the merit list of General candidates, is aggrieved by his non-appointment to the Delhi Higher Judicial Service ('DHJS' for short) despite the availability of three vacancies for candidates in the General category, as per the advertisement.

(2.) The undisputed facts of the case are that on 23.12.2015, an advertisement was issued by the respondent no.2/Delhi High Court inviting applications from interested candidates to fill 9 vacancies in the Delhi Higher Judicial Services by participating in the DHJSE, 2015. As per the said advertisement, 3 out of these 9 vacancies were reserved for candidates belonging to the General category, 2 vacancies were reserved for the Scheduled Castes category and the remaining 4 vacancies were reserved for the Scheduled Tribes category. The advertisement also stated that out of the 9 vacancies, 01 vacancy was reserved for physically handicapped persons. The relevant extract of the advertisement, along with the relevant part of the Instructions annexed to the advertisement, is reproduced hereinbelow:-

(3.) The petitioner, desirous of being appointed to the Delhi Higher Judicial Services, submitted his application as a General category candidate for the DHJSE, 2015. The preliminary examination for the DHJSE, 2015 was held on 03.04.2016 and the results thereof were declared on 26.08.2016, wherein 18 candidates including the petitioner herein had qualified. Respondent no.3, who is a physically handicapped candidate, challenged some of the answers in the answerkey of the preliminary examination by filing W.P.(C)No.7863/2016, which was allowed. Thereafter, the revised result was declared on 20.10.20116, in which 16 more candidates including the respondent no.3 were declared as qualified to appear in the main examination. The main examination was conducted on 12 & 13.11.2016, which was followed by a viva voce held on 28.11.2017. For appearing in the viva voce, which was the final stage of the selection process, a General category candidate was required to secure at least 50% marks in the written examination while a reserved category candidate was required to secure 45% marks. The final result of the successful candidates was declared on 05.12.2017. As per the final result, only 5 vacancies could be filled; 3 belonged to the General category candidates, out of which 1 vacancy was allotted to the respondent no.3 as a Physically Handicapped (Ortho.) candidate, while the remaining 2 vacancies were filled by candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste category. The 4 vacancies reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates remain unfilled and, therefore, only 5 out of the 9 advertised vacancies could be filled. The relevant extract of the notice dated 05.12.2017, issued by the respondent no.2, declaring the final result is reproduced hereinbelow:-