1 2026:CGHC:6747 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 9133 of 2023 1 - Gayatri Sahu D/o Shri Omprakash Sahu Aged About 31 Years R/o Bhanwarmara, Lungi Chouki, Post- Singoula,, District : Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary, Department Of Health And Family Welfare, New Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur,, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh 2 - Divisional Joint Director Health Services, Bilaspur, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 3 - Seema Netam D/o Uday Ram Netam, Through The Divisional Joint Director, Health Services,, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 4 - Khileshwari Sahu D/o Rupchand Sahu, Through The Divisional Joint Director, Health Services,, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh 5 - Kusum D/o Devkumar Jain, Through The Divisional Joint Director, Health Services, Bilaspur, District : Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s) (Cause-title is taken from Case Information System) For Petitioner : Mr. Pranoti Das, Advocated holding brief on behalf of Mr. Goutam Khetrapal, Advocate For State : Mr. Anway Tiwari, Panel Lawyer Digitally signed by SHAYNA KADRI 2 SB- Hon'ble Shri Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 06/02/2026 1. The present writ petition is being filed seeking following reliefs:- “a. Issue a writ, order or direction, moreover in the nature of certiorari, quashing the impugned merit list as well as final selection list dated 06.10.2023 and impugned appointment & posting order dated 06.10.2023 as well as the impugned letter dated 07.11.2023. b. Issue a writ, order or direction, moreover in the nature of mandamus, directing the Respondents to provide the Petitioner with an appointment on the post of Psychiatric Nurse as per her merit; c. pass any other order(s) that may be deemed fit and just, including awarding of the cost of litigation to the petitioner.” 2. Facts of the case, in breif, is that the petitioner is a qualified health professional holding a Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing, which she successfully completed in the year 2020. Immediately after completion of her diploma, the entire country was struck by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, during which there was an acute shortage of trained and qualified health-care workers. Prior thereto, in the year 2019, the respondent authorities had issued an advertisement dated 04.02.2019 for appointment of Staff Nurses, Pharmacists and Lab Technicians under the District Mineral Fund (DMF). The petitioner, being eligible, applied 3 pursuant to the said advertisement and, after due process, was placed in the waiting list prepared by the authorities. Subsequently, owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases and the urgent requirement of health-care personnel, the respondent authorities issued a notice dated 20.04.2021, whereby it was decided that candidates included in the aforesaid waiting list would be appointed on contractual basis to render their services during the pandemic. In pursuance thereof, the petitioner was appointed and posted at Rajnandgaon vide order dated 23.04.2021. Thereafter, the State Government, acknowledging the invaluable services rendered by health-care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, took a policy decision vide order dated 07.12.2021, providing that candidates who had successfully rendered services during the pandemic would be awarded 10 bonus marks while being considered for Government employment. Upon successful completion of her contractual COVID-19 duty, the petitioner was issued an experience certificate dated 08.04.2022, granting her entitlement to 10 bonus marks. Thereafter, the respondent No.2 issued an advertisement dated 08.06.2022 inviting applications for appointment to 231 posts of Staff Nurses, Medical Lab Technicians, Psychiatric Nurses, Radiographers and other allied posts. In response to the said advertisement, the petitioner applied on 25.06.2022 for the post of Psychiatric Nurse. It is pertinent to note that clause 15(c) of the aforesaid advertisement specifically provided for award of 4 10 bonus marks to candidates who had rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the advertisement was subsequently amended vide order dated 08.05.2023, the said clause 15(c) remained unchanged. The provisional merit list was published around the third week of August, 2023, wherein the petitioner secured 68.99 marks and was placed at Serial No. 6. The merit list clearly reflects that the petitioner, along with several other candidates, was awarded 10 bonus marks for rendering services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, vide notice dated 22.08.2023, candidates were called for document verification between 28.08.2023 and 04.09.2023. Thereafter, objections to the merit list were invited vide notice dated 20.09.2023. However, during the process of adjudication of objections, the respondent authorities arbitrarily deducted the 10 bonus marks earlier awarded to the petitioner for COVID-19 services, on the ground that her engagement was contractual and therefore could not be treated as service rendered during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the petitioner’s marks were reduced from 68.99 to 58.99, leading to a drastic fall in her rank from 6 to 39. Thereafter, the final selection list of 32 candidates for appointment to the post of Psychiatric Nurse was published, in which the petitioner’s name did not find place. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid actions of the respondents, the petitioner approached this Court by filing Writ Petition (S) No. 8469 of 2023. The said petition came up for hearing on 18.10.2023, on which 5 date this Court was pleased to pass an interim order directing the respondents to keep one post of Psychiatric Nurse vacant, for which the petitioner had applied, till further orders. The petitioner duly produced the said interim order before respondent No.2. However, vide impugned letter dated 07.11.2023, respondent No.2 informed the petitioner that appointment orders in favour of selected candidates had already been issued on 06.10.2023 and that the selection process stood completed. It is lastly submitted that, as per the best knowledge and information available with the petitioner, respondent No.3 has not joined the post of Psychiatric Nurse and the said post is still lying vacant, giving rise to the present writ petition. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the impugned merit list, the final selection list dated 06.10.2023 and the consequential appointment orders issued on the same date are ex facie illegal, arbitrary and unsustainable in the eyes of law. The said actions of the respondents are vitiated by non-application of mind, discriminatory treatment and gross violation of the policy decisions framed by the State Government itself and, therefore, deserve to be quashed and set aside by this Court. It is further submitted that the State Government, by a conscious policy decision vide order dated 07.12.2021 bearing No. ्ቅ.एफ. 1- 67/2021/सहኚᮌ/एक, categorically provided that any person who has successfully rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic shall be awarded 10 bonus marks while being considered for a 6 Government job. In pursuance of the said policy, the petitioner, after successfully rendering contractual services during the COVID-19 period, was issued an experience certificate dated 08.04.2022, which specifically certifies that she worked continuously as a contract health worker under the District Mineral Foundation from 27.04.2021 to 31.03.2022, rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic and is eligible for grant of 10 bonus marks. The said certificate itself refers to and is founded upon the Government Order dated 07.12.2021, leaving no scope for doubt or ambiguity regarding the petitioner’s entitlement. Learned counsel would submit that a comparative and collective perusal of the merit lists published prior to document verification and after adjudication of objections would clearly reveal that the 10 bonus marks awarded for rendering COVID-19 services have been deducted only in the case of the petitioner, whereas similarly situated candidates have been allowed to retain the said benefit. Such selective deduction of marks is manifestly arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. It is submitted that the sole reason assigned by the respondents for deducting the 10 bonus marks is that the petitioner was appointed on a contractual basis and, therefore, her service cannot be treated as service rendered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The said reasoning is wholly untenable and reflects complete non-application of mind. The petitioner was appointed pursuant to the notice dated 20.04.2021, which was 7 issued keeping in view the emergent situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic and explicitly provided for appointment of candidates from the waiting list on a first-come-first-serve basis to meet the urgent requirement of health-care personnel during the pandemic. Learned counsel further submits that the very language of the notice dated 20.04.2021 makes it abundantly clear that the petitioner’s appointment was specifically made to meet the emergency arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, merely because the appointment was contractual in nature, it cannot be said that the petitioner did not render services during COVID-19, especially when the Government’s own policy dated 07.12.2021 does not draw any distinction between contractual and regular appointees. It is also submitted that clause 15(c) of the advertisement dated 08.06.2022 unequivocally provides for award of 10 bonus marks to candidates who have rendered services during the COVID-19 period. The said clause nowhere stipulates that such benefit would be confined only to candidates appointed on a permanent basis, nor does it exclude contractual appointees from its ambit. In absence of any such exclusion, the respondents could not have introduced a new condition at the stage of selection or objection adjudication, thereby altering the rules of the game after the game had begun. In view of the aforesaid submissions, learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the impugned action of the respondents in deducting 10 bonus marks from the petitioner alone, revising the 8 merit list, and issuing the final selection list and appointment orders dated 06.10.2023 is arbitrary, illegal and contrary to the governing policy and advertisement. The same deserves to be interfered with by this Court by quashing the impugned merit list, final selection list and appointment orders, with a consequential direction to restore the petitioner’s marks and consider her case for appointment in accordance with law. 4. At the outset, learned State counsel submits that the present writ petition, as framed and filed, is devoid of any merit or substance and is liable to be dismissed in limine, as the petitioner has failed to demonstrate the existence of any enforceable legal or fundamental right warranting interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The recruitment in question was conducted strictly in accordance with the advertisement dated 08.06.2022 and the terms and conditions contained therein, particularly clause 15 governing award of experience and bonus marks. The petitioner, having consciously accepted the said conditions, participated in the selection process as an OBC candidate, and after due scrutiny by the duly constituted Selection Committee, the provisional merit list was published, objections were invited and decided, and thereafter the final select list and waiting list were issued. In the OBC category, candidates securing higher merit were appointed vide order dated 06.10.2023 and have already joined and are discharging their duties. The petitioner, having secured lower marks, could only be placed in the waiting 9 list and did not attain the requisite merit for selection. As per clause 15(b) and 15(c), experience marks were admissible only on completion of one full year of experience, which the petitioner admittedly lacked, and bonus marks for COVID-19 duty were admissible only to those who had worked continuously for six months against sanctioned posts under the specified departments during the pandemic, which condition the petitioner did not fulfill. Having participated in the selection process without protest, the petitioner is estopped from challenging the criteria or distribution of marks after being unsuccessful. The selection process having been duly completed and appointments already made, no interference is warranted and the petition deserves to be dismissed. 5. Heard learned counsel for the parties at length and perused the pleadings, documents placed on record as well as the applicable advertisement and policy decisions governing the selection process. 6. The undisputed facts emerging from the record are that the petitioner possesses the requisite qualification of Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing, completed in the year 2020, and is otherwise eligible for appointment to the post of Nurse (Psychiatric). The documents annexed, including the diploma certificate, experience certificate and the advertisement dated 08.06.2022, clearly establish that the petitioner fulfills the eligibility criteria prescribed for the said post. From a perusal of the experience certificate 10 dated 08.04.2022, it is evident that the petitioner worked continuously as a contractual health worker from 27.04.2021 to 31.03.2022, i.e. for about 11 months, and had rendered services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The said certificate specifically certifies her entitlement for grant of 10 bonus marks in terms of Government Order dated 07.12.2021. Clause 15(c) of the advertisement dated 08.06.2022 expressly provides that candidates who have rendered services during the COVID-19 period shall be awarded 10 bonus marks. Clause 15(c) is quoted below for ready reference : “(स) ऐसे अभ्यቕኍ जो कोरोना वैቫኌक महामारी के दौरान छ०ग० राज्य के शासकीय स्वास्थ्य संस्ቕኍाओं में निनयुनि) हुये एवं 06 माह तक लगातार सेवा देने हेतु अस्ቕኍायी स्वास्थ्य क቞ኌमयों को छ०ग० शासन, लोक स्वास्थ्य एवं परिरवार कल्याण निवभाग, मं्ቔालय महानदी भवन, नवा रायपुर के आदेश पृ.्ቅ एफ 1/67/2021 / स्ቔह / एक निदनोंक 07.12.2021 में निदये गये ओदशानुसार-10 बोनस अंकों का लाभ निदया जावेगा। इस संबंध में स्ቌम अቫኌधकारी ्ቛारा जारी 06 माह की निनरन्तर सेवा का ्ቚमाण प्ቔ आवेदन के साቕኍ संल्ሿ करना अनिनवाय? होगा।" 7. Neither the advertisement nor the subsequent amendment dated 08.05.2023 makes any distinction between contractual and 11 regular appointees for the purpose of grant of such bonus marks. Therefore, the deduction of 10 bonus marks from the petitioner on the sole ground that her engagement was contractual is found to be arbitrary, contrary to the advertisement and the Government policy, and amounts to changing the rules of the game after the selection process had already commenced. 8. The record further reveals that initially, in the provisional merit list, the petitioner was rightly awarded 10 bonus marks for COVID-19 service and secured 68.99 marks, placing her at Serial No. 6. The subsequent deduction of the said 10 marks only in the case of the petitioner, resulting in reduction of her marks to 58.99 and her rank to 39, without there being any cogent or legally sustainable reason, clearly reflects non-application of mind and discriminatory treatment. 9. It is also significant to note that vide order dated 28.11.2023, this Court has categorically recorded the specific submission of the petitioner that one post of Nurse (Psychiatric) is still vacant on account of non-joining of respondent No.3 – Seena Neetam. Taking note of the said submission, this Court had directed the respondent authorities to keep one post vacant till the next date of hearing. It is not in dispute that the said interim order is still continuing and operative as on date. 10. In view of the aforesaid factual and legal position, this Court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner is eligible in all respects for grant of 10 bonus marks for rendering services during the 12 COVID-19 period. The petitioner having worked for about 11 months during the pandemic, denial of the said benefit is wholly unjustified. Consequently, the impugned action of the respondents in deducting 10 bonus marks from the petitioner and issuing the revised merit list, final selection list and appointment orders dated 06.10.2023, insofar as they adversely affect the petitioner, cannot be sustained. 11. Accordingly, the writ petition deserves to be and is hereby allowed. 12. The respondent authorities are directed to grant 10 bonus marks to the petitioner for having rendered services during the COVID- 19 period and to revise her merit accordingly. The respondents are further directed to pass appropriate consequential orders in respect of joining/appointment of the petitioner against the available vacant post of Nurse (Psychiatric), in accordance with law, at the earliest. No order as to costs. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Shayna JUDGE