Recently, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has clearly stated that the continuation of carrying over vacant positions to the next recruitment phase, despite the presence of eligible candidates, would not only squander the state's valuable time and resources but also unfairly prejudice individuals who narrowly missed success in the previous selection by a minimal margin.

The ruling by Justice Jagmohan Bansal came in a case where an advertisement for filling 267 posts of sub-inspector provided that “there would be no waiting list and unfilled vacancies shall be carried forward in the respective reservation category to the next recruitment process.”.

The bench headed by Justice Bansal emphasized that the selection process begins with the advertisement and concludes upon the candidates' joining. Acknowledging the well-established fact that these processes typically entail a considerable duration, he highlighted the inherent likelihood, particularly in fields like the armed forces, of some candidates being deemed unfit during the medical examination stage.

Justice Bansal added that the selection of the same candidate for more than one post was also a possibility. In such circumstances, the posts might fall vacant. “If these posts are carried forward despite the availability of eligible candidates, it would waste valuable time and energy for the state.”.

Justice Bansal was hearing a series of petitions requesting directives to annul the provisional list dated May 25, 2023, pertaining to the candidates selected for the positions of sub-inspector in the technical and support services cadre in 2021

Justice Bansal noted that the petitioners, primarily from the reserved category, specifically SC, were subject to scrutiny. Despite the advertisement reserving 27 seats for this category, only 17 were occupied. The petitioners actively engaged in the selection process but were not chosen due to what the state employed, according to the Justice, as a convoluted mechanism.