Gagandeep Singh vs The State Of Punjab

The Supreme Court held that the vacancy created by the resignation of a candidate from a reserved category position must be filled by the next available candidate from the select list, as per the guidelines issued by the welfare Department on 08.04.1980 and 10.01.1996. The Court emphasized that the appointing authority cannot disregard these instructions, and the appellant, being No. 3 in the select list, has a legitimate expectation for consideration for appointment. The Court ruled that the vacancy should be filled from the merit list, and if the candidate at No. 2 is not interested, the appointment should go to the appellant.