SC allows Karnataka govt's plea to let KPSC publish revised list of junior training officers

The apex court lifted its stay on the operation of Karnataka High Court's order which has directed for revising the select list.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has lifted its stay on the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) to publish revised 2021 select list of Junior Training Officers (JTO) upon a plea by the state government to allow it to proceed with the appointments in order to facilitate smooth functioning in the State, as in the absence of such large number of employees, the work was greatly hampered.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prasanna B Varale permitted the State and KPSC to publish the revised merit list and to make appointments as per the revised merit list. 

The court lifted its stay on the operation of Karnataka High Court's order which has directed for revising the select list.

However, the bench clarified that the candidates who have already been appointed and are working may not be disturbed, if found to have been wrongly selected, till such time the writ petitions are finally decided by the High Court. All appointments made would be subject to the final outcome of the writ petitions, it said.

The court's order came in a batch of petitions filed Chetan Bogar and others who led by senior advocate Sanjay M Nuli had questioned the validity of the High Court's orders of March 20 and June 21, 2024.

The apex court had on July 2, 2024 stayed the High Court's order, which directed the opening of the 15 sealed covers in the presence

of the counsel and further directed the KPSC to give effect to the revised list within a period of three months.

Subsequently, the state government filed an application for lifting the stay, contending the entire appointment procedure has been held up and as of date, there were huge vacancies reaching up to a figure of almost 2,000. In the absence of such large number of employees, the work in the entire State is suffering, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said on behalf the state. 

The said application was opposed by some of the petitioners who have already been appointed and were working. Others urged the court that the revised list may be implemented so that other selected candidates may get employment and start working, whereas, one of the group of petitioners was aggrieved by the revised Select list.

There was another set of candidates which opposed the appointments already made on various grounds of illegality and irregularity.

The court disposed of the petitions permitting the State and KPSC to publish the revised merit list and to make appointments.

Following a recruitment notification of 2018, competitive examinations were conducted. Upon completion of the process, the KPSC published the provisional select list on July 23, 2021 consisting of 1367 candidates in total.

The KPSC published the final select list between January 20, 2021 to May 25, 2022 for different trades and selecting 945 candidates in total.

Starting from September 09, 2022 to November 17, 2022, appointment orders were issued to 399 candidates including the petitioners herein and 546 candidates were awaiting the appointment orders.