A Division Bench comprising of Chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice W Diengdoh said that Favouritism and nepotism should have no role in appointments to government jobs and deprecated the "Uncle culture prevalent in India when it comes to subjective assessment process like an interview.

The Division bench while noting the fact that the petitioners have lost lifetime opportunity and the selection process completely failed to look for the best persons for the job, imposed a cost of Rs. 3 Lac on the State and further directed to extract the costs from the members of the interview board. The anguished bench passed and ordered, "the matter will be brought to the notice of the Chief Secretary to the State for it to be reported to the appropriate vigilance authorities for taking action against the members who conducted the interview on February 25, 2021, and hijacked a process without any adherence to ordinary norms of fairness." 

The Court also directed the State and its departments to "the appropriate department of the State should undertake an awareness drive and educate the persons who would be involved in the future selection processes as to the present norms, including the weightage to be given to the skill or the objective test and the weightage to be given to the interview. It must be remembered at the end of the day that a driver may not be judged in how he dresses or how he looks but in how he maneuvers the machine that is entrusted to him."

The Court granted relief to the petitioners to get relaxation for the future selection process in the category for which the writ petitioners are eligible to apply.

Case Details:-

WA No. 26/2022
Pynskhemlang Nongrang   ...Petitioner

Vs.

The Directorate of Soil and Water Conservation & ors ...Respondents

Read the complete judgment:-

http://164.100.166.51/meghalaya/orders/2022/211200000262022_7.pdf