The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has sought a response from the State on an appeal preferred by 11 Backward Class (BC) Muslim candidates, who have sought a direction to the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) to fill backlog vacancies for BC (Muslim) category.
A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and Sunder Mohan sought a report from the State on who cleared the written exam, their marks and the number of candidates recruited as per their notification.
The candidates preferred the appeal against a Single Bench order that had dismissed their petition seeking relief after holding that the backlog vacancies were carried forward for four consecutive years and, therefore, had lapsed. The appellants said that in 2019, the TNUSRB issued a notification for the recruitment to the posts of Grade II Police Constable (Armed Reserve, Tamil Nadu Special Police, Jail Warder, Fireman), which included backlog vacancies for BC (Muslim) category.
The candidates said they participated in the written exam and cleared the cut-off marks, and the physical test. Following certificate verification, a provisional selection list was released.
However, the backlog vacancies numbering 43 for BC (Muslim) category were not filled and, hence, the appellants insisted on filling them up.
The Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016 categorically provides for backlog vacancies to be filled up first, they said.
The hearing was adjourned till February 22.