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"There is no dispute that under the Recruitment Rules as well as under the advertisement dated October 6, 1983 issued by the Public Service Commission, holders of Diploma in Mechanical Engineering were eligible for appointment to the post of Motor Vehicle Inspectors along with holders of Diploma in Automobile Engineering. On receipt of applications from the candidates, the Commission commenced the process of selection as it scrutinized the applications and issued letters for interviews to the respective candidates. In fact the Commission commenced the interviews on August 1985 and it had almost completed the process of selection but the selection could not be completed on account of interim orders issued by the High Court at the instance of candidates seeking reservation for local candidates. The Commission completed the interviews of all the Candidates and it finalized the list of selected candidates by June 2, 1987 and the result was published in the State Gazette on 23rd July 1987. In addition to that, (6 of 19) [CW-18005/2016] the selected candidates were intimated by the commission by separate letters. In view of these facts, the sole question for consideration is as to whether the amendment made in the Rules on May 14, 1987 rendered the selection illegal. Admittedly, the amending Rule do not contain any provision enforcing, the amended Rule with retrospective effect. In the absence of any express provision contained in the amending rules, it must be held to be prospective in nature. The Rules which are prospective in nature cannot take away or impare the right of candidates holding Diploma in Mechanical Engineering as on the date of making appointment as well as on the date of scrutiny by the Commission they were qualified for selection and appointment. In fact the entire selection in the normal course would have been finalized much before the amendment of rules, but for the interim orders of the High Courts. If there had been no interim orders, the selected candidates would have been appointed much before the amendment of Rules. Since the process of selection had commenced and it could. Not be completed on account of the interim orders of the High Court, the appellants' right to selection and appointment could not be defeated by subsequent amendment of Rules.

The Bench answered the question formulated as under:-

"28. We are, therefore, of the considered opinion that as in the case of promotion quota, vacancies in direct recruitment quota must also be determined, on yearly basis. We are also, of the opinion that once direct recruitment vacancies are advertised, the process of selection must be completed on the basis of the Rules, which are in existence at the time of advertisement. Any amendment made subsequently shall not affect the eligibility of the candidates. So far as the age requirement is concerned, the eligibility of the candidates must be adjudged with reference to the year to which the vacancies relate and the candidates cannot be made to suffer merely because of non determination of vacancies or failure of the competent authority to issue advertisement."