Rajasthan HC scraps Class IV merit lists over zero-marks selections
Synopsis
Rajasthan's largest-ever recruitment drive — with over 2.1 million candidates — has been thrown into disarray after the High Court ruled that selecting candidates with near-zero or zero marks is unconstitutional. The judgment exposes a structural gap: service rules that never prescribed a minimum qualifying mark, leaving the door open for cut-offs as low as 0.0033.
Key Takeaways
The Rajasthan High Court quashed category-wise merit lists in Class IV Employee Recruitment-2024 on 22 May , ruling zero-marks selections unconstitutional.
Justice Anand Sharma directed the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board to fix minimum qualifying marks and issue fresh merit lists.
The recruitment was the largest by the current state government, with over 2.1 million candidates appearing.
Cut-offs in some categories had fallen as low as 0.0033 marks ; merit lists in TSP area categories including ST Widow and disability categories were also cancelled.
The Board had argued no minimum marks were prescribed in service rules; the Court rejected this reasoning as legally unsustainable.
The Rajasthan High Court on Friday, 22 May quashed category-wise merit lists in the Class IV Employee Recruitment-2024, ruling that the selection of candidates who scored virtually zero marks in the examination is unconstitutional. The judgment, delivered by Justice Anand Sharma on a petition filed by Vinod Kumar, strikes at the heart of what was the largest recruitment drive undertaken by the current state government — one in which over 2.1 million candidates appeared.
What the Court Ruled
Justice Sharma held that no recruitment process can be legally sustained without prescribing minimum qualifying marks, regardless of whether the post is a Grade IV government position. The Court observed that the absence of such a threshold cannot justify appointing candidates who scored nearly zero, and that doing so would be unconstitutional.
The Rajasthan Staff Selection Board has been directed to determine minimum qualifying criteria and issue fresh merit lists for the affected categories. Merit lists in several categories where cut-off marks had fallen to extremely low levels — in some cases as low as 0.0033 marks — have been set aside.
The Petitioner's Argument
Advocate Harendra Neel, appearing for petitioner Vinod Kumar, argued that his client had applied under the Ex-Servicemen (OBC) category and had secured negative marks in the examination. The petitioner contended that since neither the recruitment notification nor the applicable service rules prescribed any minimum qualifying marks, candidates with negative scores should also be considered — particularly given that candidates with cut-offs as low as 0.0033 marks had already been selected in several categories. The argument was that there was no meaningful distinction between scoring zero and scoring negative.
The Board's Position and Why the Court Rejected It
The Department of Personnel and the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board maintained before the Court that the service rules governing Class IV recruitment contain no provision for minimum qualifying marks. The Board argued that while candidates scoring zero could be selected under existing rules, those with negative marks belonged to an 'extremely weak category' and could not be considered.
The High Court rejected this reasoning outright, holding that the absence of minimum standards in a recruitment framework cannot be legally sustained. The Court's position was that even for the lowest rungs of public service, a baseline standard of merit is non-negotiable.
Categories Affected and TSP Area Orders
Merit lists have been cancelled across several categories where cut-offs were negligibly low. In the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) area, the Court also struck down merit lists for categories including ST Widow and multiple disability categories where cut-offs were similarly near-zero.
What Happens Next
Authorities have been directed to fix minimum qualifying marks and prepare revised merit lists accordingly. The ruling is expected to delay appointments in one of Rajasthan's most consequential recruitment cycles, with implications for lakhs of candidates who had already been provisionally placed on the earlier lists. How the Board calibrates the new threshold — and whether it will be challenged further — will determine the final shape of this recruitment.
Point of View
That the rules simply did not bar zero-mark selections, is precisely the problem the Court has now forced the state to confront. With 2.1 million candidates in play, the reissue of merit lists will be politically and administratively fraught. The deeper question is why minimum qualifying standards were not prescribed at the outset — and whether the revised criteria will be set high enough to be meaningful or just high enough to survive the next legal challenge.
NationPress
8 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Rajasthan High Court quash the Class IV Recruitment-2024 merit lists?
The Court quashed the merit lists because candidates had been selected despite scoring virtually zero marks, which Justice Anand Sharma ruled was unconstitutional. The judgment held that any recruitment process must prescribe minimum qualifying marks, and the absence of such a standard cannot justify appointing candidates with near-zero scores.
What has the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board been directed to do?
The Board has been directed to determine minimum qualifying criteria and prepare revised, fresh merit lists for all affected categories. The earlier merit lists in categories where cut-offs had fallen to negligible levels — including TSP area categories such as ST Widow and several disability categories — have been set aside.
Who filed the petition and what was the argument?
The petition was filed by Vinod Kumar, represented by Advocate Harendra Neel. The petitioner, who applied under the Ex-Servicemen (OBC) category and secured negative marks, argued that since no minimum marks were prescribed, candidates with negative scores should also be considered — especially when cut-offs as low as 0.0033 had already qualified others.
How large was the Class IV Employee Recruitment-2024 in Rajasthan?
It was the largest recruitment drive undertaken by the current Rajasthan state government, with over 2.1 million candidates appearing for the examination.
What happens to candidates who were already on the cancelled merit lists?
The High Court's order requires the Board to issue fresh merit lists after fixing minimum qualifying marks. Candidates provisionally placed on the earlier lists will need to be re-evaluated under the revised criteria, which is likely to delay final appointments significantly.
