GURMEET PAL SINGHversusSTATE OF PUNJAB & ANR.

1036                     [2018]REPORTS
               SUPREME COURT   6 S.C.R. 1036               [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A                          GURMEET PAL SINGH
                                       v.
                         STATE OF PUNJAB & ANR.
                         (Civil Appeal No. 4853 of 2018)
 B                               MAY 15, 2018
         [J. CHELAMESWAR AND SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, JJ.]
              Judicial Service – Punjab Superior Judicial Service Rules,
       2007– r.7(3)(c) – Advertisement issued, inviting applications for
       selection to Punjab Superior Judicial Service through direct
 C
       recruitment from amongst the Advocates – Appellants-candidates
       appeared for the written examination – On declaration of the result
       of the written examination, viva voce was held whereafter there was
       variation in the merit position of the candidates in the combined
       marks compared with just the written examination – Challenged by
 D     appellants – Held: When a candidate appears in an examination
       without objection and is subsequently found to be not successful, a
       challenge to the process is precluded – Appellants not having
       challenged the advertisement at the relevant point of time, cannot
       be permitted to contend that having not made the mark in the cut
       off for the select list, something must be done to somehow
 E
       accommodate them – No relief granted to the appellants –
       Constitution of India – Art.309.
             Judicial Service – Punjab Superior Judicial Service –
       Advertisement issued for selection provided for the possibility of
       the number of posts being subject to variation – Post advertisement
 F
       one more seat became available – Impact of – Held: This would not
       mandate the inclusion of a post which fell vacant subsequently, nor
       can there be even otherwise a compulsion on High Court to
       necessarily expand the scope of the number of persons to be
       recruited.
 G            Judicial Service – Punjab Superior Judicial Service –
       Advertisement issued for selection provided for two seats for Ex-
       Servicemen – Held: Such reservation had no force of law in view of
       r.3, 1982 Rules carving out an exception in respect of the Punjab
       Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service and the Punjab Superior Judicial
 H     Service – Punjab Recruitment of Ex-Servicemen Rules,1982– r.3.
                                     1036
         GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                           1037


      Judicial Service – Punjab Superior Judicial Service – Filling     A
up of existing and prospective vacancies – Held: No doubt every
endeavor should be made to fill up the existing vacancies and
prospective vacancies – However, there cannot be a blanket
proposition that an advertisement is defective merely because every
vacancy which existed or which is contemplated was not taken into
                                                                        B
account – A subsequent vacancy arising from an elevation to High
Court can hardly be treated as in contemplation and it is always
open to not even fill up a vacancy.
      Reservation – Right of members belonging to reserved
category to be included in the unreserved category – Held: Members
belonging to the reserved category, who get selected in open            C
competition on the basis of their merit, have a right to be included
in the General/Unreserved category and are not to be included in
the quota reserved for the SC category.
      Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of
Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 – Non-availability of          D
candidate under Physically Challenged category – Vacancy carried
forward for the future – Propriety of – Held: Provisions of the
1995 Act are towards the social objective of accommodating people
with physical disability – There is nothing wrong in carrying forward
the vacancy for the future.                                             E
      Dismissing the appeals, the Court
       HELD: A.Effect of elevation of a Judge from the category of
direct advocate recruits to the High Court:
      1.1 The elevation of one Justice Sabina on 12.03.2008 is a        F
matter of fact. The submission of the appellants is that one more
seat for General category became available post issuance of the
advertisement and since the number of posts were subject to
variation, this vacancy should be made available to the General
category. It is not in dispute that the advertisement was issued
prior to such elevation on 02.02.2008 and the advertisement noted       G
the possibility of the number of posts being subject to variation.
However, this would not mandate the inclusion of a post which
fell vacant subsequently, nor can there be even otherwise a
compulsion on the High Court to necessarily expand the scope
of the number of persons to be recruited. In fact, the persons,
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1038            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                      [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A     who may have become eligible post the advertisement would
       suffer a prejudice were subsequent vacant posts to be included
       against an earlier advertisement. The plea based on the vacancy
       of this seat is, thus, completely devoid of merit.[Para 7][1044-C-E]
             B. The provision wrongfully made in the advertisement
 B     reserving two seats for Ex-Servicemen:
              1.2 The advertisement did make a provision for two seats
       for Ex-Servicemen– one in General category and one from
       Backward Class category. However, such reservation had no
       force of law in view of Rule 3 of the Punjab Recruitment of Ex-
 C     Servicemen Rules, 1982 carving out an exception in respect of
       the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service and the Punjab
       Superior Judicial Service. The High Court having noticed this
       fact, abandoned the process of recruitment for this category. It
       did initially resolve that the vacancy advertised for Ex-Servicemen
       (General) would also go to the General category but ultimately
 D     that is not what was done. The said seat was, however, made
       available for absorption of the Judges from the Fast Track court.
       [Paras 4, 8][1044-F-H]
             C.The recruitment of two Judges from Fast Track Courts:

 E           1.3 The appointment of two Judges in the Fast Track court
       was made against the two vacancies, i.e., one of Ex-
       Servicemen(General) category and the second which occurred
       on elevation of Justice Sabina from the subordinate judiciary to
       the High Court. Such selection was preceded by a Selection
       Committee constituted by the High Court in order to assess the
 F     suitability for absorption of the Judges. A completely different
       process was followed for absorption of the Judges from the Fast
       Track court. The moot point, however, remains whether one of
       the vacancies in the advertisement, which arose ought to have
       been utilized for absorption of these Fast Track court Judges,
 G     which, in turn, affected the senior-most, the appellant. In a way,
       the appellant suffered the consequences both of a more
       meritorious candidate from the SC category being found eligible,
       because of which he went one slot down. But, it is a well-
       established legal position that members belonging to the
       reserved category, who get selected in open competition on the
 H
         GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                            1039


basis of their merit have a right to be included in the General/         A
Unreserved category and are not to be included in the quota
reserved for the SC category. [Paras 11, 12][1046-B, D-E]
      1.4 Insofar as the adjustment against the seat which was
made available on account of the wrongful reservation for Ex-
Servicemen, the fact that the said appellant made an endeavour           B
by taking three successive subsequent exams held on 08.04.2011,
02.01.2012 and 29.04.2013, but was unsuccessful, cannot be lost
sight of. Not only that, there has been a passage of a decade
since the initial recruitment and though the appellants cannot be
blamed for judicial delays, it is really not possible to put the clock
back. Thus, the recruitment process is not interfered with on            C
this aspect. [Paras 13, 14][1046-F-G; 1047-A]
      D. Non-availability of candidate with disability:
      1.5 The plea based on an inherent right in view of the
wording of the advertisement qua the seat meant for person with          D
disability when no candidate is available is intrinsically flawed.
The provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal
Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act,
1995, are towards the social objective of accommodating people
with physical disability. There is nothing wrong in carrying forward
the vacancy for the future. [Para 15][1047-B-C]                          E

     E.The larger recruitment was possible since the cadre strength
was more:
      1.6 The undisputed fact is that the advertisement was issued
on the basis of a cadre strength of 107. Twenty-seven(27) posts          F
would arise in the category in question and six (6) were already
occupied, thus, the advertisement was issued for twenty-one(21)
posts. The advertisement was not challenged by any of the
appellants. When a candidate appears in an examination without
objection and is subsequently found to be not successful a
challenge to the process is precluded. Thus, undoubtedly the             G
appellants not having challenged the advertisement at the
relevant point of time, cannot be permitted to contend that having
not made the mark in the cut off for the select list, something
must be done to somehow accommodate them. The plea of the
                                                                         H
1040            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                      [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A     existence of a larger number of posts is in this direction. No doubt
       every endeavor should be made to fill up the existing vacancies
       and prospective vacancies. However, there cannot be a blanket
       proposition that the advertisement is defective merely because
       every vacancy which existed or which is contemplated was not
       taken into account. A subsequent vacancy arising from an
 B
       elevation can hardly be treated as in contemplation. Merely
       because the name of a candidate finds a place in the select merit
       list does not given an indefeasible right to appointment as well
       and it is always open to not even fill up a vacancy. The cadre
       strength of 111 relied upon by the appellants is available from
 C     the Gradation and Distribution List of Officers of the Judicial
       Department, Punjab corrected up to 31.01.2010, i.e., which was
       subsequent to the advertisement and the recruitment process.
       Thus, the appellants cannot get any relief even on this ground.
       No relief is granted to the appellants. [Paras 16, 17 and 18][1047-
       D-G; 1048-A-B, D-E]
 D
             Brij Mohan Lal v. Union of India & Ors. (2002) 5 SCC
             1 : [2002] 3 SCR 810; Samta Andolan Samiti v. Union
             of India (2014) 14 SCC 745 : [2013] 11 SCR 1124;
             Ashok Kumar & Anr.v. State of Bihar & Ors. (2017) 4
             SCC 357 : [2016] 8 SCR 815; Chandra Prakash Tiwari
 E           v. Shakuntala Shukla (2002) 6 SCC 127 : [2002]
             3 SCR 948; Malik Mazhar Sultan & Anr. v. U.P. Public
             Service Commission & Ors. (2008) 17 SCC 703;
             Kulwinder Pal Singh & Anr. v. State of Punjab & Ors.
             (2016) 6 SCC 532 : [2016] 4 SCR 439 – relied on.
 F                            Case Law Reference
             [2002] 3 SCR 810         relied on       Para 9
             [2013] 11 SCR 1124       relied on       Para 12
             [2016] 8 SCR 815         relied on       Para 16
 G
             [2002] 3 SCR 948         relied on       Para 16
             (2008) 17 SCC 703        relied on       Para 16
             [2016] 4 SCR 439         relied on       Para 17

 H
          GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                                  1041


      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 4853                       A
of 2018.
      From the Judgment and Order dated 19.08.2013 of the High Court
of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in Civil Writ Petition No.1999 of
2009.
                                   WITH                                         B

      C. A. Nos. 4856, 4857, 4858, 4854 and 4855 of 2018.
     Salman Khurshid, Sr. Adv., Gopal Sankaranarayan, Rohit Sharma,
Anshul Chowdhary, Adil Boppar, Ms. Sakshi, Sandeep Das, Ms. Surbhi
Sharma, Parmanand Gaur, Balbir Singh Gupta, Mrs. Kanchan Kaur Dhodi,            C
Ms. Upasana Nath, Anis Ahmed Khan, Rohit Sharma, Anshul Chowdhary,
Gauravjeet Narwan, Yash Pal Dhingra, Advs. for the Appellant.
      Appellant-in-person.
      Nidhesh Gupta, Sr. Adv., Ms. Vriti Gujral, Puneet Varshney, Ashok
Mathur, Ms. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, Subhasish Bhowmick, Gagan Gupta,                  D
Saurabh Gupta, Sajith P., Karan Dewan, Ms. Aditi Gupta, Advs. for the
Respondents.
      The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
        SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J. 1. In exercise of the powers
conferred by the proviso to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, the       E
Punjab Superior Judicial Service Rules, 2007 (hereinafter referred to as
the ‘said Rules’) were notified on 31.08.2007 duly published in the Gazette
of 03.09.2007 for regulating the recruitment and the conditions of service
of the persons appointed to the Punjab Superior Judicial Service. The
method of appointment as per Rule 7 of the said Rules was both from             F
amongst the members of the Punjab Civil Service (Judicial Branch), as
well as direct appointment from amongst the eligible advocates on the
basis of written test and viva-voce conducted by the High Court. Sub-
clause (c) of Sub-rule (3) of Rule 7 dealt with the latter direct appointment
for which 25 per cent of the posts were reserved. The appeals in question
relate to the process of the direct recruitment under these Rules at the        G
first instance, carried out in pursuance of the advertisement issued on
02.02.2008.
       2. In terms of the aforesaid advertisement, applications were invited
for selection of twenty one (21) candidates, with a further breakup of
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1042             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A     ten (10) from General category, six (6) from Scheduled Caste (‘SC’)
       category, two (2) from Backward Class category, one (1) from Ex-
       Serviceman (General) category, one (1) from B.C. (Ex-Serviceman)
       category and one (1) from Physically Challenged category of Locomotor
       or Orthopedic Disability, under Rule 7(3)(c) of the said Rules. It may be
       noted that the advertisement also stated that ‘the number of posts will
 B
       be subject to variation.’ Note 4 to the advertisement qua the Physically
       Challenged category also stated that “if no candidate is found suitable or
       medically fit under this category, the post shall be reverted to the General
       category candidate.”
              3. The appellants before this Court are all candidates, who
 C     appeared for the examination. It may be noted that none had assailed
       the advertisement on any account prior to the declaration of the result.
       On declaration of the result of the written examination, viva-voce was
       held and there was variation in the merit position of the candidates in the
       combined marks as compared with just the written examination. The
 D     appellants all belong to the General category and their merit position
       was beyond the ten (10) candidates whose recruitment was envisaged
       under the advertisement. It may be noted that one of the SC candidates
       obtained marks to merit consideration without the benefit of reservation
       and consequently nine (9) of the General category candidates were
       recruited against the ten (10) posts.
 E
              4. There were five developments, which need to be taken note of,
       in view of the pleas advanced on behalf of the appellants. The first was
       the elevation of Justice Sabina as a Judge of the High Court of Punjab &
       Haryana on 12.03.2008, and, thus, the submission of the appellants is
       that one more seat for General category became available post issuance
 F     of the advertisement and since the number of posts were subject to
       variation, this vacancy should be made available to the General category.
       The second is arising from a defect in the advertisement inasmuch as no
       reservation for ex-serviceman was envisaged, as Rule 3 of the Punjab
       Recruitment of Ex-Servicemen Rules, 1982 (hereinafter referred to as
 G     the ‘Ex-Servicemen Rules’) exempted the applicability of these Rules
       to the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service and the Punjab Superior
       Judicial Service. The High Court also took cognizance of this fact and,
       thus, the reservation being not in accordance with law, resolved
       appropriately in a meeting of the Judges held on 25.07.2008. The meeting
       noted that the vacancy, which was advertised as Ex-Serviceman
 H
          GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                                 1043
               [SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.]

(General) category should also go to the General category. Thus, a             A
second seat as per the appellants became available for the General
category. The third is the absorption of two Presiding Officers of Fast
Track courts against which vacancies for direct recruitment purportedly
under Rule 7(2) of the said Rules even though the present recruitment
exercise was under Rule 7(3) of the said Rules. Fourthly, no candidate
                                                                               B
was available in the physically challenged category, but instead of carrying
it to the General category as per Note 4 of the advertisement, the vacancy
was carried forward. Finally, the advertisement was issued on the basis
of a total cadre strength of 107 posts, while actually the total cadre
strength on the date of advertisement was 111, i.e., there were four
more posts, which could have been filled in and the General category           C
would have got two more seats and two more candidates could have
been absorbed in the General category.
       5. The endeavor of the appellants by filing writ petitions before
the Punjab and Haryana High Court, however, was not successful and
in terms of the common judgment dated 19.08.2013 all the writ petitions        D
were dismissed. In the course of the last decade since the recruitment
process took place in the year 2008, similar recruitment of advocates
was carried out five times through different notifications. Three of the
candidates before this Court took their chances in different examinations.
The details of these are disclosed as per Annexure A to the additional
affidavit filed on behalf of respondent No.2/the High Court, which is          E
reproduced hereinunder:



                                                                               F




                                                                               G




                                                                               H
1044            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A            6. The appellants, however, contend that if they have been
       wrongfully excluded, whether they appeared in a subsequent examination
       or not, or whether they were successful or not in the subsequent
       examination, would not be material. It is also the case of the appellants
       that though a decade has passed since the examination was held, the
       delays in the adjudication process should not deprive them of being
 B
       appointed even if there have been subsequent recruitments, and if that
       aspect weighs with the Court, the relief can be suitably modified qua
       the issue of seniority.
            A. Effect of elevation of a Judge from the category of direct
       advocate recruits to the High Court:
 C
              7. The elevation of Justice Sabina on 12.03.2008 is a matter of
       fact. It is not also in dispute that the advertisement was issued prior to
       such elevation on 02.02.2008 and the advertisement noted the possibility
       of the number of posts being subject to variation. However, in our view,
       this would not mandate the inclusion of a post which fell vacant
 D     subsequently, nor can there be even otherwise a compulsion on the High
       Court to necessarily expand the scope of the number of persons to be
       recruited. In fact, the persons, who may have become eligible post the
       advertisement would suffer a prejudice were subsequent vacant posts
       to be included against an earlier advertisement. The plea based on the
 E     vacancy of this seat is, thus, completely devoid of merit.
             B. The provision wrongfully made in the advertisement
       reserving two seats for Ex-Servicemen:
              8. The advertisement dated 02.02.2008 did make a provision for
       two seats for Ex-Servicemen – one in General category and one from
 F     Backward Class category. However, such a reservation had no force
       of law in view of Rule 3 of the Ex-Servicemen Rules, carving out an
       exception in respect of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Secretariat Service
       and the Punjab Superior Judicial Service. The High Court having noticed
       this fact, abandoned the process of recruitment for this category in terms
 G     of the minutes of meeting dated 25.07.2008. It did initially resolve that
       the vacancy advertised for Ex-Servicemen (General) would also go to
       the General category but ultimately that is not what was done. The said
       seat was, however, made available for absorption of the Judges from
       the Fast Track court. In fact, there were two Judges recruited from the
       Fast Track court – one against this post and the other against the vacancy,
 H
             GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                                1045
                  [SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.]

which arose on account of the elevation of Justice Sabina through a              A
different exercise, which will be discussed later on.
         C. The recruitment of two Judges from Fast Track Courts:
       9. The Fast Track courts owe their origin to the allocation of funds
under the 11th Finance Commission to deal with long pending cases,
particularly Sessions cases. A time bound utilization within a period of         B
five years was envisaged and, thus, various State Governments were
required to take necessary steps to establish such courts. We may notice
here that obviously the regular cadre strength of Judges has been awfully
inadequate to meet the pendency and inflow of cases, one methodology
could be to increase the cadre strength itself. There have been periodic         C
reviews for this purpose in the last few years. However, not having
done that at the relevant stage, a short cut method was envisaged to, at
least, temporarily create the Fast Track courts for certain category of
cases. However, since the fund from the Central Government ceased
after five years, the question arose as to what was to happen to these
Fast Track courts especially keeping in mind that a number of the presiding      D
officers had been appointed directly from the Bar. The challenge laid to
the constitutionality of this scheme for Fast Track courts was repelled in
Brij Mohan Lal v. Union of India & Ors.1. In para 10 of the judgment,
directions were issued to deal with the initial teething problems of the
Scheme. Direction No.4, after the earlier directions recorded that               E
preference will be given to appointment on ad hoc promotions, followed
by retired Judges, stipulated as under:
         “4. The third preference shall be given to members of the Bar for
         direct appointment in these Courts. They should be preferably in
         the age group of 35-45 years, so that they could aspire to continue     F
         against the regular posts if the Fast Track Courts cease to function.
         The question of their continuance in service shall be reviewed
         periodically by the High Court based on their performance. They
         may be absorbed in regular vacancies, if subsequent recruitment
         takes place and their performance in the Fast Track Courts is
         found satisfactory. For the initial selection, the High Court shall     G
         adopt such methods of selection as are normally followed for
         selection of members of the Bar as direct recruits to the Superior/
         Higher Judicial Services.”
1
    (2002) 5 SCC 1
                                                                                 H
1046               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A           10. The stand of the High Court is that it is in furtherance of the
       aforesaid judgment that a provision was made for absorption of the Judges
       appointed to the Fast Track court on a permanent basis.
              11. The appointment was made vide order dated 20.06.2008 and
       two such Judges in the Fast Track court against the two vacancies, i.e.,
 B     one of Ex-Servicemen (General) category and the second which occurred
       on elevation of Justice Sabina from the subordinate judiciary to the High
       Court. Such selection was preceded by a Selection Committee
       constituted by the High Court in order to assess the suitability for
       absorption of the Judges. The Judges were marked on a benchmark of
       100 marks, out of which 50 marks were from written test, 25 marks for
 C     viva-voce and 25 marks for performance as a Judge of the Fast Track
       court. These two obtained the highest marks qua the vacancies for
       Punjab as recorded in the minutes of the meeting dated 18.03.2008.
              12. The aforesaid shows that a completely different process was
       followed for absorption of the Judges from the Fast Track court. The
 D     moot point, however, remains whether one of the vacancies in the
       advertisement, which arose ought to have been utilized for absorption of
       these Fast Track court Judges, which, in turn, affected the senior-most,
       i.e., Gurmeet Pal Singh. In a way, Gurmeet Pal Singh suffered the
       consequences both of a more meritorious candidate from the SC category
 E     being found eligible, because of which he went one slot down. But then
       it is a well-established legal position that members belonging to the
       reserved category, who get selected in open competition on the basis of
       their merit have a right to be included in the General/Unreserved category
       and are not to be included in the quota reserved for the SC category
       (Samta Andolan Samiti v. Union of India2).
 F
              13. Insofar as the adjustment against the seat which was made
       available on account of the wrongful reservation for Ex-Servicemen,
       we cannot lose sight of the fact that the said Mr. Gurmeet Pal Singh
       made an endeavour by taking three successive subsequent exams held
       on 08.04.2011, 02.01.2012 and 29.04.2013, but was unsuccessful (chart
 G     reproduced above). Not only that, there has been a passage of a decade
       since the initial recruitment and though the appellants cannot be blamed
       for judicial delays, it is really not possible to put the clock back for all the
       aforesaid reasons.
       2
           (2014) 14 SCC 745 – para 16
 H
          GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                                  1047
               [SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.]

       14. We are, thus, not inclined on this aspect to interfere with the      A
recruitment process.
      D. Non-availability of candidate with disability:
       15. The plea based on an inherent right in view of the wording of
the advertisement qua the seat meant for person with disability when no
candidate is available is intrinsically flawed. The provisions of the Persons   B
with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full
Participation) Act, 1995, are towards the social objective of
accommodating people with physical disability. We find nothing wrong
in carrying forward the vacancy for the future.
      E. The larger recruitment was possible since the cadre                    C
strength was more:
       16. The undisputed fact is that the advertisement was issued on
the basis of a cadre strength of 107. Twenty-seven (27) posts would
arise in the category in question and six (6) were already occupied and,
thus, the advertisement was issued for twenty-one (21) posts. The               D
advertisement was not challenged by any of the appellants. It is a well
settled principle of law that when a candidate appears in an examination
without objection and is subsequently found to be not successful a
challenge to the process is precluded. In a recent judgment in Ashok
Kumar & Anr. v. State of Bihar & Ors.3, this principle has been re-             E
emphasised by referring to the earlier judgments on this point starting
from Chandra Prakash Tiwari v. Shakuntala Shukla 4. Thus,
undoubtedly the appellants not having challenged the advertisement at
the relevant point of time, cannot be permitted to contend that having not
made the mark in the cut off for the select list, something must be done
to somehow accommodate them. The plea of the existence of a larger              F
number of posts is in this direction. No doubt every endeavor should be
made to fill up the existing vacancies and prospective vacancies keeping
in mind the judgment in Malik Mazhar Sultan & Anr. v. U.P. Public
Service Commission & Ors.5. However, there cannot be a blanket
proposition that the advertisement is defective merely because every            G
vacancy which existed or which is contemplated is not taken into account.
Certainly, a subsequent vacancy arising from an elevation can hardly be
treated as in contemplation.
3
  (2017) 4 SCC 357
4
  (2002) 6 SCC 127
5
  (2008) 17 SCC 703                                                             H
1048               SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2018] 6 S.C.R.


 A           17. We agree with the contention advanced by learned counsel
       appearing for the High Court, more so when merely because the name
       of a candidate finds a place in the select merit list does not given an
       indefeasible right to appointment as well and it is always open to not
       even fill up a vacancy. (Kulwinder Pal Singh & Anr. v. State of Punjab
       & Ors.6).
 B
              18. It is also the plea of learned counsel appearing for respondent
       No.2 that the cadre consisted of only 107 posts. This is stated to be
       quite apparent from the gradation and distribution list of officers of The
       Judicial Department, Punjab corrected up to 01.01.2008. The strength,
       including permanent and temporary has been mentioned as 109.
 C     However, at serial No.6, under the temporary post are two temporary
       posts of Additional District & Sessions Judges sanctioned by the Punjab
       Government letter dated 27.01.2004 for setting up of special courts at
       Patiala and Jalandhar. These courts were actually not set up till much
       later. It was also contended that even if the cadre strength was 109,
 D     then the particular category would be entitled to 27.25 (25% of 109 =
       27.25) posts, with this six (6) posts filled up. Therefore, once again, one
       would come to 21 posts. The cadre strength of 111 relied upon by the
       appellants is available from the Gradation and Distribution List of Officers
       of the Judicial Department, Punjab corrected up to 31.01.2010, i.e., which
       was subsequent to the advertisement and the recruitment process. Thus,
 E     the appellants cannot get any relief even on this ground.
                Conclusion:
              19. We have dealt with the pleas advanced before us on behalf of
       the appellants. We have, of course, perused the impugned order. We
 F     may note that the line of attack before the High Court appeared majorly
       to be on different pleas, though it cannot be said that the issues raised
       before us have been raised for the first time. The focus was, however,
       elsewhere. We have, thus, dealt with the pleas, which have been advanced
       before us.

 G           20. We are, thus, unable to grant any relief to the appellants in the
       present case.
             21. We may, however, note in the end that one of the appellants,
       Ms. Kadambini, Advocate, argued the appeal in person and, without
       taking anything away from the endeavour of the other learned senior
       6
           (2016) 6 SCC 532
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          GURMEET PAL SINGH v. STATE OF PUNJAB                               1049
               [SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, J.]

counsel, did a commendable job. However, that cannot be a ground to          A
accommodate the said appellant.
       22. The appeals are accordingly dismissed leaving the parties to
bear their own costs.

                                                                             B
Divya Pandey                                            Appeals dismissed.




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