Delhi High Court: Waitlist Can’t Fill Vacancies After Judicial Officer Resigns

The Delhi High Court has ruled that under the Delhi Judicial Services Rules, 1970, a waitlisted candidate cannot be appointed if a judicial officer resigns after joining service.

The bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla said Rule 18(vi) allows the waitlist to be used only when a candidate fails to join, not when a vacancy arises post-joining through resignation or other causes.

Dismissing the plea of a waitlisted candidate from the 2022 recruitment, the Court noted that all initial vacancies had been filled.

It acknowledged the rules’ gap on post-joining resignations, but said only rulemakers could address it.