Case Brief: The Administrator, Ranchi Municipal Corp. v Rajnish Kumar & Ors.

FACTS:
Respondent No. 1, Mr. Rajnish Kumar, filed a public interest litigation questioning the functioning of appellant,     Ranchi Municipal Corporation and its financial accountability. During the pendency of the writ petition, the Division Bench of the High Court passed an order whereby the appellant was restrained from making appointment on any post. As a consequence, no recruitment could be made against 1333 sanctioned class-III and class-IV posts.
Due to the acute shortage of staff, the appellant filed an application in the High Court for vacating the interim order. After considering the grievance made in the application, the Division Bench of the High Court passed order approved the scheme subject to various modifications and vacated the interim order.
ISSUE FOR CONSIDERATION:
This appeal is directed against order passed by the Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court, whereby the draft scheme presented by the Administrator of Ranchi Municipal Corporation for recruitment of class-III and class-IV employees was approved by the High Court with certain modifications.
HELD:
The Hon’ble Court opined that the impugned order is legally unsustainable inasmuch as it runs contrary to the provisions of the Act applicable to Ranchi Municipal Corporation and the Rules framed thereunder for recruitment of class-III and class-IV employees.
In the writ petition filed by way of public interest litigation, the respondent had not challenged vires of the Act or the Rules which regulate recruitment in the services of the Municipal Corporation. Therefore, the High Court was not, at all, justified in requiring the appellant to present the scheme regulating the recruitment of class-III and class-IV employees elaborating the procedure and methodology for recruitment against the advertised post and then issue directions for effecting modifications in the scheme.
The appeal was accordingly allowed, the impugned order was set aside.