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‘I couldn’t accept it’: UP man challenged last-minute withdrawal of 556 gazetted posts. What happened next?

On Tuesday, the Central Administrative Tribunal upheld the withdrawal of vacancies as valid. Here’s why

4 min readNew DelhiJan 28, 2026 05:19 PM IST

West Singhbhum district’s Civil Surgeon, Bharti Minj, said the department traced two separate sources of blood that had been administered to the woman during a Cesarean procedure that she underwent, and that both donors were tested for HIV.

In 2023, 32-year-old Alok Krishna Mishra, a resident of UP’s Deoria, gave the Staff Selection Commission’s (SSC) Combined Graduate Level Examination (CGLE) for the gazetted posts of Assistant Accounts Officer and Assistant Audit Officer (AAO).

Mishra cleared the qualifying exam (Tier 1). Four days before the Tier 2 exam results were to be announced — marks of which are considered for final selection of candidates — vacancies for the posts were withdrawn.

“I was so disappointed. There are many others like me. They have now got other jobs, and lost hope in the law. But not me. I can’t accept this, I’ll fight till the end,” said Mishra.

“I had matched my answers with the answer key, analysed the previous year’s cut-offs. I was so hopeful I would clear the exam and get a posting in my home state,” he added.

For nearly two years, Mishra, represented by advocate Namit Saxena, fought the case in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). But on Tuesday, the CAT Principal Bench in New Delhi upheld the withdrawal of vacancies as valid.

“… the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training)… clearly permits Ministries/ Departments to reconfirm or withdraw vacancies well before finalisation or declaration of results. In the present case, the withdrawal of AAO vacancies was effected on 30.11.2023, whereas the result of CGLE-2023 was declared on 04.12.2023. Thus, the withdrawal cannot be said to be post-result or contrary to the governing executive guidelines,” the CAT ruled on January 27.

“… mere inclusion in a select list or successful completion of a recruitment process does not confer an indefeasible right to appointment… The applicants have no vested or indefeasible right to appointment merely by participation in the examination or by securing higher marks,” it added.

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Mishra, an engineer by profession, had been preparing for the exam since 2018 after his graduation in civil engineering from Allahabad. He worked for close to two-and-a-half years with Larsen & Toubro.

He is currently posted as a Junior Statistical Officer (JSO) in MP after clearing the SSC CGLE in 2024. The JSO post is a group ‘B’ non-gazetted, technical post under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

“I’m planning to move the High Court now,” said Mishra.

It was on December 4, 2023, that Mishra found the SSC did not allot the post of AAO to any candidate and that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had withdrawn the 556 vacancies.

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On January 17, 2024, the CAG via a letter said: “… Requisitions for filling up a total of 556 vacancies comprising the posts of Assistant Audit Officer, Assistant Accounts Officers, Auditor and Accountant through CGLE-2023 have been placed by this office with the Staff Selection Commission. However, the same has been withdrawn due to administrative exigencies.”

Tuesday’s CAT order also ruled that this decision was taken due to genuine reasons. “The decision of withdrawal of AAO vacancies was taken due to genuine and compelling administrative constraints, including compliance with judicial orders and statutory recruitment priorities. Consequently, we cannot compel the respondents to fill up the withdrawn vacancies or to proceed with appointments contrary to statutory rules and administrative feasibility,” it said.

Advocate Saxena is representing 33 other petitioners who had moved the Tribunal for jobs among the 556 posts. “The petitioners first approached the High Court, which relegated them to CAT with a direction to dispose of the matter in six months…,” he told The Indian Express.

“Meanwhile, a few petitioners got selected for services… For others who were facing age barriers, we obtained interim relief so they could appear in the examination… After declaration of Tier 1 results, which all of them had cleared, while declaring result of Tier II, the vacancies itself were withdrawn…,” the advocate added.

Nirbhay Thakur

Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023. Professional Background Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University. Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories. Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts. Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials. Recent notable articles In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories. 1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey. 2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation. 3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police. Signature Style Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public. X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99 ... Read More

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