The High Court of Karnataka has directed the State government to immediately undertake a recruitment drive to fill-up all the backlog vacancies in all the departments and institutions, and accomplish the task of filling-up backlog vacancies immediately within an outer limit of six months.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice Krishna S. Dixit issued the direction after noticing that backlog vacancies were not filled up for decades in certain government-run institutions despite the specific directions issued by the government to fillip up vacancies as well the directions issued by the High Court to the Social Welfare Department last year.
For over a decade
The Bench passed the Order while allowing an appeal filed by one M. Manju Prasad, who had assailed the direction issued by a Single Judge Bench, which had merely asked the government to consider his representation within eight weeks for filling up backlog vacancies in Government Dental College and Research Institute. The petitioner had complained that the institute had not filled up backlog posts for more than a decade.
Agreeing with the submission of appellant’s counsel that backlog vacancies being earmarked for the downtrodden communities, cannot be left unfilled in eternity, the Bench observed that “continuation of backlog vacancies would virtually amount to denial to these communities a preferential treatment as constitutionally ordained. That would eventually deprive community representation in the public employment and therefore cannot be countenanced.”
Rejoice citizen’s victory
Meanwhile, the Bench took exception to the government’s stand for seeking dismissal of the petition despite pointing out in its statement that the institute is not undertaking the recruitment to backlog vacancies despite the letter written to it in May, 2022.
“Entities that fit into the constitutional contours of Article 12 are expected not to take up unfair stand, be it in pleadings or in evidence; their object should not be, somehow to secure dismissal of citizens causes invariably, and regardless of their intrinsic worth,” it observed.
The Bench also said that “the government being a constitutional functionary, is expected to conduct itself as a bonafide and scrupulous litigant. The Government should rejoice when an affected citizen secures victory in a worthy legal battle, against it.”
