Facts: The petitioner, Deepak Chhagan Rathod, applied for the post of Civil Engineering Assistant with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in response to Advertisement No. 184 of 2022. He appeared in the examination and was placed at Sr. No. 2 on the waitlist. The candidate initially selected, Anil Shivsingh Jarwal, joined the post but later resigned. Jarwal was subsequently disqualified due to a pending criminal proceeding. The petitioner sought absorption into the vacant post, but the PCMC closed the process, leading the petitioner to file a writ petition seeking direction for appointment.
Procedural Posture: The case came before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in its Civil Appellate Jurisdiction as a Writ Petition (WP No. 16020 of 2025) filed by Deepak Chhagan Rathod against the State of Maharashtra and the PCMC, challenging the closure of the recruitment process and seeking a mandamus for his appointment.
Issue: Whether the petitioner, being second on the waitlist for the post of Civil Engineering Assistant, is entitled to a direction for absorption into the vacant post after the initially selected candidate was disqualified, considering the expiry of the selection list's validity period.
Holding: The High Court dismissed the writ petition, holding that the petitioner had no indefeasible right to appointment, especially since the selection list had expired before the decision to disqualify the initially selected candidate was made.
Reasoning: The Court relied on the Supreme Court's judgment in Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer Vs. Yati Jain & Ors. which established that a candidate in a select/merit list has no indefeasible right to appointment and can only claim what the governing rules permit, especially when the waiting list's life is limited. The Court also noted that the Government Resolution (GR) extending the selection list's validity operated prospectively and could not revive an already expired list. The petitioner's right to claim absorption arose only after the disqualification of Anil Shivsingh Jarwal, which occurred after the selection list had expired. The court also cited Vishnupant s/o Narayanrao Kashid & ors. Vs. The State of Maharashtra, stating that any new law introduced is presumed to be prospective in nature unless expressly stated to be retrospective.