BPSC TRE-1: Patna HC Sets Aside Direction To Declare Supplementary Result For Unfilled Posts, Notes Remaining Aspirants Not Eligible

Patna High Court has set aside a July 2024 direction of a Single Judge, asking Bihar Public Service Commission to declare supplementary result for unfilled vacancies of Primary School Teachers for the 2023 recruitment drive.

The Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Partha Sarthy found that the remaining candidates though secured the cut-off marks, did not meet the eligibility criteria fixed by the Commission. It observed,

"There is no legal right to appointment but only of being considered, which is subject to bona fide action on the part of the State...It is not incumbent upon the employer to fill all posts but discretion not to appoint, must be exercised judiciously...we have taken into account the categorical statement of the Commission that no respondents/writ petitioners met the cut-off threshold of date of birth, though they had obtained marks equal to the selected candidates."

The development comes in an appeal preferred by the State government against direction to the Education Department to identify the number of vacancies that had arisen due to non-appointment of candidates recommended by the Commission as Primary Teachers for Class-I to V. BPSC was to then publish a supplementary result in order of merit.

The Division Bench emphasised on provisions of the Bihar State School Teachers (Appointment, Transfer, Disciplinary Proceeding and Service Conditions) Rules, 2023 and held, “Determination of the cut-off marks and declaration of results are in the domain of the Commission and not of the Education Department. … The Education Department has not been conferred with any such power to tinker with that decision.”

While a supplementary result had been published in December 2023 for 467 candidates who didn't join due to selection on multiple posts, the Court noted that vacancies due to ineligible candidates were carried forward to the next recruitment cycle (TRE-II) and were not meant to be filled under the 2023 advertisement.

Rejecting the petitioners' claim that remaining vacancies should be filled by them, the Court reiterated that securing equal marks did not grant any enforceable right to appointment in the absence of satisfying the age cut-off. It further found no arbitrariness in the Commission's action.

Holding that judicial intervention in recruitment matters is limited, the Court concluded that, “It is not incumbent upon the employer to fill all posts but discretion not to appoint, must be exercised judiciously. Courts normally would not interfere with the discretion not to fill up posts but exercise of such discretion should not be arbitrary, capricious or whimsical.”

On these findings, the Division Bench allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned judgment of the Single Judge, and disposed of all interlocutory applications.

Case Title: The State of Bihar and ors vs Dhirendra Kumar and ors

LL Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Pat) 28

Click Here To Download Judgement