In Shashi Bhushan Prasad Singh v. State of Bihar (2024 INSC 763), the Bihar Technical Service Commission (BTSC) disqualified candidates with private university diplomas unapproved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in its recruitment for Junior Engineers. This criterion was challenged based on Bharathidasan University v. AICTE (2001), which held that universities do not require AICTE approval for technical programs. The Patna High Court initially directed BTSC to complete the selection but allowed the State to cancel the process and restart recruitment with amended rules, a decision later appealed by the aggrieved candidates. In a pivotal decision, the Supreme Court rejected the State’s move to cancel the selection, citing K. Manjusree v. State of Andhra Pradesh (2008), where altering selection criteria post-selection was deemed unfair as it “changes the rules of the game after the game has been played.” The Court directed BTSC to create a fresh selection list, incorporating both the previously disqualified candidates and those initially selected, thus upholding the candidates’ rights against arbitrary rule changes.
