Shaik Masthan Vali, Guntur Dist vs Kummaru Durga, Guntur Dist Three Others on 28 August, 2025
61. Following Sivanandan C.T. [Sivanandan C.T. v. High Court of Kerala,
(2024) 3 SCC 799 : (2024) 1 SCC (L&S) 67 : 2023 INSC 709] , a three-Judge
Bench of this Court in Salam Samarjeet Singh v. High Court of
Manipur [Salam Samarjeet Singh v. High Court of Manipur, (2024) 14 SCC
179 : 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2316 : 2024 INSC 647] held : (Salam Samarjeet
Singh case [Salam Samarjeet Singh v. High Court of Manipur, (2024) 14 SCC
179 : 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2316 : 2024 INSC 647] , SCC para 34)
"34. ... Prescribing minimum marks for viva voce segment may be
justified for the holistic assessment of a candidate, but in the present case
such a requirement was introduced only after commencement of the
recruitment process and in violation of the statutory rules. The decision of
the Full Court to depart from the expected exercise of preparing the merit list as
per the unamended rules is clearly violative of the substantive legitimate
expectation of the petitioner. It also fails the tests of fairness, consistency and
predictability and hence is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India."