Chhattisgarh HC orders FCI to declare Watchman recruitment results, ruling that mass cancellation is arbitrary if “tainted” candidates can be isolated

News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 280 | 2026:CGHC:19197

April 25, 2026 : The High Court of Chhattisgarh has delivered a landmark ruling in favor of transparency and fairness in public employment, striking down a decision by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to cancel an entire recruitment drive for the post of Watchman. Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal ruled that a “wholesale cancellation” of a selection process is legally impermissible when the irregularities are confined to a limited, identifiable group of candidates.

The case originated from a 2017 recruitment advertisement for 114 Watchman positions in the FCI’s Chhattisgarh Region. While hundreds of candidates successfully navigated the written examinations and Physical Endurance Tests (PET) by 2018, the process ground to a halt after the recruitment agency flagged discrepancies in the signatures of 47 participants. What followed was a five-year saga of administrative indecision, during which forensic reports from laboratories in Bhopal and Hyderabad were repeatedly sought and delayed.

In January 2023, just as candidates were seeking judicial intervention for their results, the FCI published a cryptic notice in a daily newspaper announcing the cancellation of the entire recruitment process due to “unavoidable circumstances.” This move was challenged by several groups of candidates, many of whom argued they were now nearing the age limit for other government jobs due to the FCI’s five-year delay.

During the proceedings, the court found that the forensic investigations had already effectively “segregated” the candidates. Data revealed that while 16 individuals were identified as proxies and others failed to appear for verification, approximately 92 candidates had been found genuine by forensic experts. The court noted that the FCI had failed to provide any rational basis for punishing honest candidates for the malpractices of a few.

Justice Agrawal emphasized that every state action must be informed by reason and that the doctrine of “legitimate expectation” protected those who had qualified through a rigorous, competitive process. The court observed that the FCI could not simply hide behind the phrase “unavoidable circumstances” to scrap a six-year-long process that had reached its final stages.

The High Court has now ordered the FCI to proceed with the recruitment by excluding the tainted candidates and declaring the results for eligible individuals within three months. To maintain the integrity of the department, the court ruled that these appointments will remain subject to the outcome of an ongoing CBI inquiry, with a specific clause in the appointment orders allowing for termination if future wrongdoing is discovered.

Case Reference : Manish Kumar Yadav & Others (WPS 969/2023), Jaiyan Kumar Meena (WPS 3788/2023), and Harikesh Meena (WPS 1144/2024 & 1143/2024) vs. Food Corporation of India & Others, represented by counsels Ms. Naushina Afrin Ali, Mr. Topilal Bareth, Mr. Bharat Sharma, Mr. Vijay Chawla, and Ms. Ankita Gouraha for petitioners, and Senior Advocate Mr. Prafull N. Bharat with Mr. R.S. Patel, Mr. Ashish Sahu, and Mr. Tanmay Thomas for respondents.