NEW DELHI: Terming it ‘impermissible’, the Supreme Court on Friday set aside Bihar government’s decision to scrap the 2019 selection process for the appointment of over 6,000 junior engineers in the state’s water resources department.A two-judge bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma delivered the verdict after hearing an appeal against the Patna High Court order, which closed the pending cases against the scrapping of appointment process after noting the state’s decision.Scrapping the entire selection process after its completion “amounts to effectively changing the rules of the game after the game was played, which is impermissible,” observed the top court bench.It directed the Bihar Technical Service Commission to proceed with the appointment process according to the fresh select list they submitted to the Patna High Court.“The fresh select list be prepared in view of the order dated April 19, 2022, passed by the high court, and the fresh list shall also include those meritorious candidates who were otherwise eligible but were declared ineligible solely on account of the 2017 amendment to the rules, that is, on account of their institute not being recognised by the AICTE, and all similarly placed successful candidates,” the bench ordered.It also directed the Bihar Technical Service Commission to prepare the revised list of successful candidates within three months and ordered the state government to appoint them within 30 days thereafter.The court was hearing the petitions challenging the validity of one of the rules of the Bihar Water Resources Department Subordinate Engineering (Civil) Cadre Recruitment (Amendment) Rules 2017. The rule prescribed technical qualification eligibility for selection and appointment to the post in Bihar.
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