SC quashes Calcutta HC order, says waitlisted candidates have no vested right to appointment

The Supreme Court has held that being placed on a waitlist for admission or job recruitment does not give a candidate any vested right to appointment, except when a selected candidate does not join the post.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar quashed a Calcutta High Court order directing Prasar Bharati to appoint a technician who was first on the waitlist in a subsequent recruitment drive. The bench observed that a waiting list prepared for one examination cannot be used for later recruitment processes, as doing so would adversely affect candidates participating in subsequent selections.

Waitlist valid only for limited period

“While considering the entitlement of the respondent to any relief on the basis of his placement in the reserved panel, it would be necessary to bear in mind the settled position that mere placement in the waitlist does not create any vested right for being so appointed. The right to be considered for appointment would spring only in the contingency of a selected candidate not joining on his post,” the bench said.

The court further noted that a waitlist operates for a limited period and cannot extend indefinitely or beyond the commencement of a new recruitment process.

No right after recruitment process ends

The bench clarified that any right a waitlisted candidate could claim extinguishes once all selected candidates join their posts and the recruitment process concludes. “There was no vested right in favour of the respondent to urge that he was entitled to be considered and appointed on any fresh vacancy arising in the future,” the court stated.

The Supreme Court observed that the High Court “glossed over these vital aspects” while directing the appointment, adding that the available vacancies had already been filled in 1997, leading to the exhaustion of the waitlist.

(With inputs from TOI)