Backdoor selection of candidates deplored: Madras High Court

CHENNAI: The practice of picking candidates through backdoor and subsequently regularising them needs to be deprecated, the Madras High Court has observed.

A Division Bench of Justices K K Sasidharan and P Velmurugan made the observation while passing interim orders on an appeal from the Chief Secretary of Puducherry and the principal of Pondicherry Engineering College, challenging the orders dated February 10, 2017, of Justice M S Ramesh on March 6 last.

The college appointed candidates from general category and later attempted to regularise their services on the ground that at that point of time, no SC candidate was available. A single judge ruled against the college and hence the present appeal.

Passing interim orders, the Bench said the Pondicherry Engineering College is an autonomous body promoted by the Puducherry government. It must be a model employer. The practice of appointing candidates from the open category and later regularising their services should be condemned.

It said the posts reserved for SC candidates should not be carried forward like this, without taking serious efforts for filling up the said posts, the Bench said and directed the Chief Secretary, to file a statement with regard to the time required to fill the posts reserved for SC candidates by March 19.