MAT orders PWD to appoint two sports quota candidates as civil engg assistants

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal's (MAT) Aurangabad bench has directed the state public works department (PWD) to appoint two candidates under the sports quota at the post of civil engineering assistant (Grade-C), holding their exclusion from the selection process as unjustified and contrary to recruitment rules.The directive came in a judgment delivered on Thursday, allowing applications filed by candidates Kalpesh Bhagwan Vanjari and Radhika Dilip Patil, who were represented by advocate Suresh Munde. The tribunal ruled that both the candidates were entitled to appointment under the 5% sports reservation.The recruitment process originated from a PWD advertisement issued on Oct 10, 2023, for filling 2,109 posts across categories. Vanjari had applied under the NT-D (Sports) category and secured 138.03 marks, emerging first in his category as a Soft Tennis player. Patil, a Sepak-Takraw player, scored 144.98 marks and was placed at 24 in the merit list under the Open (Sports) category.As per the recruitment conditions, both candidates had submitted their sports certificates for verification to the divisional deputy director of sports and youth services before the stipulated deadline. However, when the PWD published its second-phase selection list on Feb 25, 2024, both the names were excluded. A note appended to the list stated that Soft Tennis and Sepak-Takraw were not being considered for selection.The department justified its decision by citing a 2016 Govt Resolution (GR), arguing that the sports associations concerned were not affiliated with the Maharashtra Olympic Association, thereby rendering the certificates invalid.The MAT bench, comprising justice V.K. Jadhav and member Vinay Kargaonkar, rejected this contention. It observed that the candidates had complied fully with the advertisement conditions and that the delay in certificate verification by the sports authority could not be held against them.The tribunal also took into account a subsequent GR dated June 20, 2024, which clarified that affiliation with the Maharashtra Olympic Association is not a mandatory requirement for recognition of sports associations. In light of this policy shift, the deputy director of sports later validated the certificates submitted by both candidates, confirming their eligibility under the sports quota.