BENGALURU: Statutory bodies like the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), being an instrumentality of the State under Article 12 of the Constitution, have to conduct themselves as a model employer and not as a private entity, acting on their own whims and fancies, said the Karnataka High Court, rejecting an appeal filed by LIC against a single-judge’s order directing it to appoint the petitioner.
The division bench of Justices Krishna S Dixit and Vijaykumar A Patil rejected the LIC’s appeal against the single judge’s order of February 14, 2024 to appoint the petitioner, Sourabh from Dharwad.
The high court observed that when vacancies continue indefinitely, it would not only affect the efficacy of public administration but render many qualified and eligible job aspirants to cross the age limit.
It needs no research to know that there has been heartburn among the younger generation, aspiring for public employment, that the recruitment process is not taken up periodically, the bench observed, emphasising the need to undertake recruitment periodically.
The single judge quashed the communication by LIC, refusing to appoint Sourabh and directed LIC to appoint him as against permanent vacancies that have arisen between January 14, 2020 and January 14, 2022.
Sourabh was one of the six candidates in the empanelled list, prepared under the economically weaker sections (EWS) category, pursuant to the final list of 34 selected candidates notified on January 14, 2020.