Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Thursday quashed a recruitment notification issued by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for sub-assistant engineer posts.
The bench of Justice Kausik Chanda held that the notification, which relied on the recently stayed revised OBC list, had been issued in violation of its own prior order.
The recruitment notice was published a day after the High Court, on Tuesday, stayed the use of the 2012 OBC list for reservation purposes. Justice Chanda, presiding over the matter, questioned how KMC proceeded with the notification despite the stay.
“How could you issue the notification a day after the high court order?” Justice Chanda asked the municipal commissioner and the chairman of the municipal recruitment board, both of whom appeared virtually before the court. The court observed that the officials were attempting to shift responsibility between themselves, thereby evading accountability. Taking strong exception to the actions of the KMC, the court annulled the recruitment notice.
Following the cancellation, Justice Chanda directed the KMC to resubmit details of the vacant sub-assistant engineer posts to the state Municipal Affairs department.
The department has been instructed to grant approval within seven days of receiving the data. Only after this approval, the municipal recruitment board may proceed with the appointments. The court clarified that recruitment under the OBC category must be carried out strictly in accordance with the 66 subgroups listed prior to 2010, and within the 7 per cent reservation limit specified by a division bench of the Calcutta High Court in an earlier ruling.
The petitioner contended that the KMC could not rely on the revised post-2012 OBC list, especially when the matter remains sub judice before the Supreme Court.