Vadodara: The Gujarat High Court’s order cancelling the appointment of a Class-I officer, Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) Executive Engineer (Civil) Dharmik Dave, has taken a new turn after a division bench granted a stay on the single judge’s ruling, creating uncertainty over the post.

Last month, a single bench of the Gujarat High Court had quashed Dave’s 2018 appointment and directed the VMC to appoint the candidate who had topped the merit list, Jatin B. Kalathiya of Surat, as Executive Engineer (Civil) by March 2, 2026. Acting on the order, the civic body terminated Dave on Monday and issued an appointment order to Kalathiya.

However, Dave challenged the single judge’s decision by filing a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) before the High Court. During the hearing on Tuesday, the High Court’s division bench granted a stay on the earlier order, leaving the situation unclear for the civic body.

The dispute dates back to the 2018 recruitment for the post of Executive Engineer (Civil), Class-I, in the VMC. Kalathiya had secured the highest score of 250 marks in the merit list prepared by the selection committee, while Dave had obtained 176 marks and was placed third. Despite this, the VMC’s general board passed a resolution on September 27, 2018, appointing Dave to the post, and an appointment order was issued on October 5, 2018.

Challenging the decision, Kalathiya filed a petition before the High Court, arguing that the appointment violated the principles of merit-based selection.

In its oral judgment delivered in February, the High Court observed that when recruitment is open to public competition and based on merit, the merit list cannot be ignored. The court held that the corporation’s decision was “arbitrary and violative” of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, and therefore illegal.

The court subsequently quashed the 2018 resolution of the VMC general board and the appointment order issued to Dave, directing the corporation to appoint Kalathiya to the post. It also directed that Kalathiya’s appointment date be treated as his entry into VMC service for all consequential benefits.

At the same time, the court asked the VMC to consider “sympathetically” any representation by Dave to accommodate him in the corporation’s service, noting that he had been working with the civic body since 2018 and may otherwise face difficulty securing other public employment.

With the division bench now granting a stay on the single judge’s order, the final outcome of the dispute will depend on the High Court’s decision in the appeal. DeshGujarat