Job Candidates and New Appointments: Questions and Answers

Yes, if the recruitment is for a post the tribunal covers. Section 14(1)(a) of the Administrative Tribunals Act gives CAT jurisdiction over recruitment and matters concerning recruitment to central civil posts, so SSC, UPSC and RRB candidates come here, and DSSSB candidates for Delhi government posts go to the Principal Bench. Recruitment for public sector banks and PSUs goes to the High Court. For CAPF constable and SI recruitments the forum is now unsettled, so take advice before filing.

Generally no. Courts have long held that a candidate who takes part in a selection without objection cannot later attack the method because the result went against him (Madan Lal v. State of J&K, 1995). The exceptions are narrow: a rule that was plainly illegal from the start, or a process that was changed after it began. If you think a condition is wrong, object in writing before the exam or interview, not after the merit list is out.

Not unless the existing rules or the advertisement allowed it. The Supreme Court's Constitution Bench in Tej Prakash Pathak v. Rajasthan High Court (November 2024) held that eligibility criteria cannot be changed midway, and that any change in procedure must be transparent, non-arbitrary and linked to the purpose of the selection. So a new cut-off, a fresh qualifying test or a changed qualification added after the process began can be questioned, provided you move quickly.

No. Being selected gives no absolute right to be appointed (Shankarsan Dash v. Union of India, 1991). But the government cannot refuse or delay appointment arbitrarily, appoint people below you in merit while leaving you out, or sit on the list without a good reason. If months pass without an offer, write to the recruiting body and the user department asking for the status of your dossier, and keep the replies. See delayed appointment letters.

Usually move at the DV stage if you have been declared ineligible or your category has been changed. Once the final list is out and others have joined, the tribunal is slower to disturb appointments and may only order your case to be looked at against a future vacancy. A quick representation followed by an OA, with a prayer to let you take part provisionally, protects your place. Advocate B.K. Singh's first question to a candidate is the exact date of the rejection, because that decides how much time is left.

Often, yes. Where a candidate shows a fair case, CAT commonly allows provisional participation in the next stage, such as the skill test, medical or interview, with a direction that the result will depend on the outcome of the OA. This keeps your chance alive without deciding the dispute early. The order rarely goes further than that at the first hearing. Ask for it in the OA itself and explain the date of the next stage. More on interim orders in CAT.

Yes, but the test is narrow. Where the leak was so widespread that the honest cannot be separated from the tainted, courts usually uphold cancellation of the whole exam. Where the malpractice was limited to a centre or a group that can be identified, cancelling everything can be arbitrary. A challenge needs material: the inquiry report, the FIR and the scale of the leak. Candidates who file together and quickly have a better chance of being heard before a re-exam is held.

Yes. Under the Civil Services Examination rules, appearing in even one paper of the preliminary examination counts as an attempt. Applying but not sitting any paper does not. So if you entered the hall and wrote the first paper but left before the second, that year is counted. Plan your remaining attempts on that basis, and keep your admit cards, which help if a dispute arises later about how many attempts you have used.

Rarely, but not never. UPSC applies its instructions strictly, and tribunals generally do not interfere with a rejection for not following clear instructions on photos, signatures or documents. A challenge has a chance where the defect was trivial, where the commission's own portal caused it, or where others with the same defect were allowed. Act within days, not months, because the exam calendar will not wait. Take screenshots and emails as proof. See UPSC candidate cases.

Debarment from future exams is a serious consequence, so you should at least have been given notice and a chance to explain. Ask SSC in writing for the show cause notice, if any, and the material relied on, such as the invigilator's report, CCTV or the answer sheet analysis. If no notice was given or your reply was ignored, the order can be challenged before CAT within one year, though filing early is better because the debarment period runs meanwhile.

Only if the allotment is wrong under SSC's own scheme. Posts are allotted by merit and the preferences you gave at the time of application or option, so a higher-ranked candidate gets the preferred post first. Preferences cannot be changed after the window closes. If someone below you in merit, in your category, got a post you preferred above yours, you have a real case. Get the allotment list and cut-offs before writing to SSC.

Not necessarily. Recruitment bodies usually treat the matriculation certificate as the record of name and date of birth. A minor spelling difference elsewhere, with the same parents' names and the same photograph, should be cured by a gazette notification or an affidavit, if the notice allows. A mismatch of photo, signature or thumb impression is a different and more serious matter. Write to the RRB with the documents at once. More on railway recruitment disputes.

Usually yes for descriptive answer sheets. The Supreme Court held in CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay (2011) that an examinee can inspect or obtain a copy of their evaluated answer book under the RTI Act, subject to masking the examiner's identity. For computer-based tests, you get the response sheet and answer key instead. UPSC releases marks after the final result. Bear in mind that RTI replies do not extend your time to file an OA, so do both in parallel.

Generally not. The Supreme Court in Sakshi Arha v. Rajasthan High Court (2025) held that a category certificate must be held by the closing date in the notice, unless the notice itself allows later submission. Proof of applying earlier does not usually save you. Read your notice carefully, because some permit a certificate issued later if it confirms status as on the closing date. If yours does, the rejection can be questioned. See rejected category certificates.

Usually no. In Chairman and MD, FCI v. Jagdish Balaram Bahira (2017), the Supreme Court held that once a caste claim is found false by the scrutiny committee, the person cannot keep the benefit of the job secured on it, however long they have served. What you can challenge is the cancellation: whether the scrutiny committee followed procedure, gave you a hearing and considered your old records. Challenge it before the forum that hears scrutiny committee decisions, usually the High Court.

Ask in writing for the board's findings: the condition noted, the standard applied and the test results. You cannot prepare an appeal against a ground you do not know. The appeal period runs from the date the unfit finding is communicated, so do not wait for the reasons to send a short appeal; ask for the reasons in the same letter. Get a specialist's opinion from a government hospital, which carries more weight than a private clinic.

The government board's opinion usually prevails, and tribunals do not substitute their own view on medical fitness. But where there is a real conflict between expert opinions, CAT can direct a fresh examination by an independent board, such as one at AIIMS or another central government hospital. Your chance improves if the specialist report addresses the exact standard in the recruitment notice and is from a doctor at a government institution. See unfit in the pre-appointment medical.

You should not. Many medical standards still treat an advanced pregnancy as temporary unfitness for the medical examination, with the candidate re-examined some weeks after delivery and the vacancy held for her in the meantime. A post should not be refused on pregnancy alone. If the department has rejected you outright rather than deferring the medical, ask in writing for the rule it relied on. Courts have taken a dim view of treating pregnancy as a disqualification.

Often, yes. Many departments now let a selected candidate join on a self-declaration of antecedents, with the verification report completed afterwards and the appointment subject to it. Ask the appointing authority in writing whether this applies in your case. If your declaration is honest and complete, a later report rarely causes trouble. If it is not, joining early does not protect you: an appointment can still be cancelled for suppression.

They can consider it, but they cannot reject you mechanically. Under Avtar Singh v. Union of India (2016), the employer must weigh the nature of the offence, the stage of the case and your honest disclosure. A pending case for a serious offence may justify keeping the appointment pending until the trial ends. A petty or old case, properly disclosed, should not by itself defeat you. Ask for a reasoned decision. More on adverse police verification.

Not automatically. The appointing authority can extend the joining time if you ask before it expires and give a good reason with proof, such as hospital records. If the time has already run out, write at once with the medical papers and ask for the offer to be revived. Refusal of a genuine case, especially where the post is still vacant, can be challenged. See reviving an expired offer. The worst course is silence: an offer you never answer is treated as declined.

Usually yes, if you moved properly. A permanent central employee who joins another post through proper channel, with a technical resignation, generally keeps a lien on the old post for a limited period while on probation in the new one (check the current DoPT lien instructions). If you simply resigned, there is no lien to return to. Before you leave, make sure your relieving order says technical resignation and that your application went through your office.

Probation is extended only by an order, for reasons, and DoPT instructions generally do not allow it to go beyond double the normal period. The decision to confirm or extend should be taken soon after the period ends, and the reasons for extension should be told to you so you can improve. Whether you become confirmed without an order depends on the wording of your recruitment rules. Keep copies of every extension order you receive; see repeated probation extensions.

Generally yes. Increments are not held back just because you are a probationer, unless your service rules link them to passing a departmental exam or completing training during probation. If an increment due on 1 January or 1 July has not been given, ask the office which rule it is relying on. An increment stopped as a hidden penalty during probation, without any order, is open to challenge. Check your pay slip every January and July.

Not as a matter of right. Compassionate appointment is meant to help the family through sudden hardship, and once you accept a post, you cannot later claim a higher one because of your qualifications. The scheme is limited to Group C posts within the five per cent quota of direct recruitment vacancies. Your route upward is through promotion and departmental exams like any other employee. A higher post can only be asked for before you accept, and only if a vacancy exists within the quota.

Yes. In Union of India v. V.R. Tripathi (2018), the Supreme Court struck down a railway rule that excluded children of a second marriage, holding that a child cannot be denied compassionate appointment because of the parents' marriage status. The second wife's own claim is a different matter and depends on the validity of her marriage. The department will still apply the usual tests of financial hardship and dependency, so collect proof of both.

Yes. The compassionate appointment scheme requires the person appointed to give a written undertaking to maintain the other family members who depended on the deceased. If he fails to do so, the appointment can be terminated after an inquiry and a hearing. Your mother should write to the appointing authority with details: what support was promised, what has stopped, and from when. She can also claim maintenance from him through the family court.

Not on its own. Departments judge hardship by comparing families, often with a points system that counts income, terminal benefits, dependants, years of service left and housing. Owning a house lowers the score but is not a bar by itself. The Supreme Court in Canara Bank v. Ajithkumar G.K. (February 2025) said family pension is no substitute for the job, though the family's means can be weighed. Ask for your merit points score sheet and the scores of those selected, and compare them.

It should at least try. Under the compassionate appointment scheme, an administrative ministry is expected to look for a vacancy in its other offices and can approach other ministries where its own quota is exhausted. Ask in writing whether this was done and with whom. A rejection based only on 'no vacancy in this office' is weaker than one based on a proper search. The Supreme Court has also said such cases should be decided within about six months (Malaya Nanda Sethy, 2022).

You can apply, but it is difficult. Compassionate appointment exists to meet the family's immediate crisis, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly said it is not a right to be claimed years later. Your mother should apply soon after the death and specifically ask that the case be kept pending until you reach majority. Without such a timely application on record, a claim made four years later is usually rejected. If the family managed on family pension meanwhile, that is also weighed; see compassionate appointment refusals.

No. The scheme applies only where the employee dies in service, or retires on medical grounds before the age limits the scheme sets. A death after normal retirement, however soon after, does not qualify. The family should instead claim family pension, any arrears of pension and the death benefits under group insurance. Also check whether any pension, leave encashment or gratuity was still unpaid at his death, because those amounts pass to the family too.

Under DoPT instructions, a casual worker doing the same work as a regular Group C (earlier Group D) employee should be paid one-thirtieth of the minimum of the pay level of that post, plus DA, for each day of eight hours' work. Many offices pay far less, often a flat rate. Keep proof of the nature of your work and days worked: attendance registers, gate passes, payment vouchers. See casual labour and temporary status claims.

No. The Supreme Court held in Union of India v. Mohan Pal (2002) that the 1993 scheme was a one-time measure for casual labourers in service on the date it came into force, 10 September 1993, who met the days-of-work condition. Someone engaged later cannot claim temporary status under it. Long casual service after that date may still support other claims, such as equal wages or consideration for regularisation, but not under the 1993 scheme itself.

Yes. Picking some workers and leaving out others with similar or longer service is open to challenge as arbitrary. The Supreme Court in Jaggo v. Union of India (December 2024) and Dharam Singh v. State of U.P. (August 2025) has been critical of departments using long-serving temporary workers and then regularising selectively, while Umadevi (2006) still bars back-door regularisation in general. Collect the regularisation order and the service details of those included. Advocate B.K. Singh compares dates of engagement line by line before advising a case.

Bring the notice, your application form, the admit card, the rejection order or result notice and any reply from the recruiting body. Advocate B.K. Singh reads the notice clause by clause against the reason given for rejection, since most rejections turn on a single clause. To arrange a meeting at the Dwarka or Vaishali office or an online consultation, use the contact page. Do it quickly, because recruitment timelines move faster than the one-year limit.