- (1.) BY the consent of both the sides the matter has been heard for final disposal at the admission stage. The controversy raised before me is a short one. Brijesh Sharma, the petitioner before me, is a citizen of India. He was born on 24. 09. 1975, and passed Secondary Examination, 1993, from the Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan, Ajmer in Second Division.
(2.) AS many as eight vacancies of Lower Division Clerks are lying vacant in the Court of District Judge, Jaipur District, Jaipur. The recruitments to these vacancies is governed by the Rajasthan Subordinate Courts Ministerial Establishment Rules, 1986 (for short the Rules ). Rule 10 (2) of the said Rules lays down academic qualification for direct recruitment to the general cadre of Lower Division Clerks. This rule reads as follows : - "10 (2) ; A candidate for direct recruitment to the general cadre must have passed to the Secondary Examination of the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education or any Examination of an University or Board recognised as equivalent thereto by the Government, or any higher examination, and must in addition possess a good knowledge of Hindi written in Devanagri Script. Provided that the above conditions shall not apply to the physically handicapped persons who shall be eligible for recruitment and appointment to the earmarked and reserved posts in accordance with the Rajasthan Employment of the Physically Handicapped Rules, 1976 and orders of the Government issued from time to time in this behalf. " Some difficulty was being faced by the District Judges in making recruitment to the posts of Lower Division Clerks, because large number of applications were being received. Obviously the population explosion in the Country has resulted in this situation. To tackle the situation, Registrar, Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, issued Circular No. G/i/a4 (i) (a) 85/93/1714 dated 16. 8. 1993. The relevant paragraphs of this Circular read as follows : - "in case of receipt of large number of applications with a view to minimise the difficulties in holding the test, the method of short listing of candidates may be adopted as has been decided in 1989 (2) RLR (II) in following manner: - If applications received are more than fifty (50) times of the vacancies advertised, the candidates who have passed Higher Secondary in 1st Division or B. A. /b. Sc. / B. Com. /m. A. /m. Sc. /m. Com. /ll. B. in any division may only be allowed to participate in the test. Reference be made to the aforesaid Judgment. Notification of the recruitment examination should contain the method of short listing of the candidates alongwith other usual particulars. This may kindly be given priority. " In pursuance to the aforesaid Circular, District Judge, Jaipur District, Jaipur, issued Notification (Annexure 2), inviting applications from eligible candidates for recruitment on the post of Lower Division Clerks. Following note was appended to the Notification : - The petitioner, though having passed Secondary Examination in Second Division was not considered eligible to appear at the recruitment test to be held by the District Judge," Jaipur District, Jaipur, because of the aforesaid note, read with circular Annexure 4, the relevant portion of which has already been reproduced above. Aggrieved, the petitioner has come to this Court and has inter alia prayed that Annexure 2 and 4 may be declared unconstitutional and may be quashed inasmuch as they are in conflict with the provisions of the Rules and are also violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. The Writ Petition is opposed on behalf of the respondents, who contend that the Circular referred to above and the Notification issued by District Judge, Jaipur District, Jaipur, is perfectly constitutional and may not be quashed.
(3.) I have heard learned counsel for the parties at great length and have perused the material placed on record before me. The first question, which falls for consideration of this Court is whether short listing of eligible candidates is permissible under the law or not? Article 51a of the Constitution of India, inter alia mandates that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement, Judiciary, including subordinate judiciary is a vital pillar of our democratic policy and if democracy has to survive in the Country, we ought to recruit best personnel in judiciary whether as peons, as clerks or as Judges. There can be no compromise on the question of quality in making such recruitments. Hence, keeping in view the fact that unemployment is rampant in the Country and against every single post there are very large number of eligible applicants, it has become imperative that some proper mode of short listing ought to be found out. Learned counsel for the petitioner tried to contend that provision for short listing of eligible candidates would amount to amendment of the rules. I regret my inability to be persuaded by this limb of the contention. As stated above, short listing of eligible candidates, with a view to obtain the best personnel has become the prime need of the day. That short listing is permissible under the Service Jurisprudence was recognised in a judgment of this Court rendered in Shashi Kumar Purohit etc. vs. State of Rajasthan and Another (1), Of Course, the short listing was held to be a purely executive function, which did not infringe upon the relevant recruitment rules. Hence, I do not agree with the learned counsel for the petitioner that short listing is not permissible under the relevant rules. ;