WAJAHAT SHABIR
SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has set aside the cancellation of candidature of a Srinagar-based engineer for the post of Laboratory Officer (Material Science Engineering) at IIT Jammu, holding that the institute acted without lawful justification despite the candidate possessing the requisite experience and having cleared the selection process.
In a detailed order pronounced, Justice Javed Iqbal Wani allowed a writ petition filed by Irfan Yousuf, quashing the e-mails dated October 25 and 30, 2023, through which IIT Jammu had cancelled his candidature after placing him at Serial No. 1 in the waiting list under the OBC category.
The court noted that IIT Jammu had advertised the post in April 2023 and, after scrutiny, declared the petitioner eligible. He successfully qualified the written examination and technical viva-voce and was subsequently placed first on the waiting list. However, his candidature was later cancelled on the ground that his experience certificates were allegedly not verified by the outsourcing agency mentioned in his application.
Rejecting this reasoning, the court recorded that the petitioner had worked continuously at NIT Srinagar since April 2019—initially on contract and later through outsourced agencies—and had more than the mandatory three years’ experience required for the post.
The experience certificates had already been verified by NIT Srinagar and were sufficient to establish eligibility. The court observed that IIT Jammu could not insist on re-verification in a manner that defeated the petitioner’s accrued rights, especially after subjecting him to the full selection process.
The judgment also took exception to the cancellation being carried out without affording the petitioner an opportunity of hearing. It held that the action violated principles of fairness and resulted in wrongful denial and delay of appointment.
Allowing the petition, the High Court directed IIT Jammu to offer appointment to the petitioner as Laboratory Officer and treat him as appointed retrospectively from the date he was due to be appointed, with all consequential benefits except monetary arrears. The court further imposed ₹1 lakh as exemplary costs on IIT Jammu, payable within four weeks.
