Enforceability of search-cum-selection committee recommendations

While the appointing authority retains the ultimate prerogative regarding appointments, it cannot arbitrarily ignore or defeat the recommendations of a duly constituted high-powered Search-cum-Selection Committee without valid, legally sustainable grounds. Suppressing committee recommendations or creating artificial hurdles through unverified intelligence inputs or cooked-up disciplinary notices violates principles of fairness and non-arbitrariness under Article 14 of the Constitution. Once a selection committee chaired by a judicial functionary evaluates candidates on merit and ranks an individual at the top, the state must act in good faith to process the appointment within a reasonable timeframe. Arbitrarily withholding formal appointment letters or dragging candidates through repetitive selection rounds without fresh, genuine disqualifying material constitutes gross administrative high-handedness. (Captain Pramod Kumar Bajaj v. Union of India and Anr. | 2026 INSC 101)