Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: June 13, 2022 at 16:32 IST
In Ravi Pratap Mishra v. State of UP, the Allahabad High Court has held that , “If a job advertisement is not adequately circulated, it will deny all prospective candidates a fair chance and so violate their fundamental rights”.
The order was issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice JJ Munir, who upheld the single- judge’s order of the Appellant’s Plea, stating that the vacancy had not been adequately advertised prior to appointment.
It was observed by the Bench “We do not find any error in the order passed by the learned single-judge as in terms of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, an advertisement has to be issued for inviting the applications giving fair opportunity to all the candidates.”
The dispute had arisen when Ravi Pratap Mishra was appointed as a clerk in a school. When the appointment file was sent to the District Inspector of Schools for approval.
However, it was denied on the grounds that the advertisement was printed in a newspaper with a low circulation in the area.
As a result, Mishra filed a High Court Appeal, which was denied by a single Judge, who noted that the advertisement was published in a newspaper called ‘Hindustan Ka Swaroop,’ which had very little circulation in the area.
The plaintiff argued that the school administration committee had placed an advertisement in a local newspaper for the vacant position, and that he had been duly appointed as a result.
After reviewing the case, the Division Bench concluded that the appeal devoid merits and agreed with the single-judge’s findings.
The Court stated that the appropriate procedure for filling the vacancy was not followed, the order correctly dismissed the Writ Petition because all prospective candidates were not given a fair chance to apply for the position.
Advocate Ramesh Chandra Dwivedi represented the Appellant, while State Law Officer Ankit Gaur represented the State.