October 24, 2025

The Supreme Court has drawn a clear line on waitlists in job recruitment! A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar ruled that just being on a waitlist does NOT give a candidate a guaranteed right to appointment. The rights come only if a selected candidate does not join the post. This comes after the Calcutta High Court ordered Prasar Bharati to appoint a technician who was first on the waitlist for a later recruitment drive. The Supreme Court squashed this order. The judges explained that a waitlist made for one exam can’t be used for future recruitment processes. Why? Using old waitlists for new selections would hurt candidates competing fresh for those jobs. “While considering the entitlement of the respondent to any relief on the basis of his placement in the reserved panel, it would be necessary to bear in mind the settled position that mere placement in the waitlist does not create any vested right for being so appointed,” said the bench. “The right to be considered for appointment would spring only in the contingency of a selected candidate not joining on his post.” They further noted that a waitlist is only valid for a limited time. It cannot stretch forever or pass beyond the start of a new recruitment exercise. The Court made it very clear: Once all selected candidates join their posts and the recruitment process finishes, any right a waitlisted candidate claims ends too. “There was no vested right in favour of the respondent to urge that he was entitled to be considered and appointed on any fresh vacancy arising in the future,” said the Supreme Court. The top court also pointed out that the Calcutta High Court ignored these important facts when it directed the appointment without checking if vacancies were still open. In this case, all vacancies were filled back in 1997, leaving no waitlist spots left. This judgment is a big wake-up call about job waitlists! They are not golden tickets but temporary backups only. Candidates must understand their rights clearly and not count on waitlists forever. (With inputs from TOI)

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Tags: Supreme court, Waitlist, Job recruitment, Appointment rights, Prasar bharati, Calcutta high court,