Teaching post at Shimla Dental College vacant for 15 years! HC slams state
Himachal Pradesh High Court
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has slammed the State Government for the failure to fill the vacancy of a post of lecturer at the Government Dental College, Shimla, by finalising the Recruitment and Promotion (R&P) Rules for the post of Lecturer in Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics.
Due to this, the post remained vacant since the year 2010. The HC bench comprising Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that the delay in filling up the vacant post persisted despite clear directions issued by the Supreme Court in 2013 to initiate regular recruitment.
Disposing of three petitions filed in this regard by 3 doctors, the HC bench comprising Justice Sandeep Sharma delivered a common order regarding the issue. The bench directed the State Government to finalise the long-pending R&P Rules within four weeks and to initiate the selection process.
All the petitioners had raised objections to various departmental communications issued between 2022 and 2023 regarding the proposed manner of filling the post.
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Each petitioner claimed eligibility based on seniority, qualifications, or tenure of service, and sought consideration for promotion. The court found that the original R&P Rules of 2006 had been scrapped in 2009 when the government adopted a tenure-based policy for Lecturer appointments, UNI has reported.
However, the state later assured the Supreme Court that it would return to regular recruitment under properly framed rules. Correspondence between the Health Department and the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission showed that the absence of updated rules had repeatedly stalled the recruitment process for over a decade.
In its reply before the court, the State clarified that the post in question had already been requisitioned to the Commission as a Scheduled Caste (SC) category vacancy. The court held that since none of the petitioners belonged to the SC category, they could not legally stake a claim to the post. It further held that the government’s withdrawal of its earlier letter calling for service particulars had rendered the grievances of two petitioners infructuous.
While dismissing all three petitions, the court issued a direction to the State Government to finalise the long-pending R&P Rules within four weeks and to initiate the selection process strictly in accordance with reservation norms and statutory procedure, stressing that such delays cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely.
