HC orders issue of notice to Centre, SBI on recruitment

The Madras High Court bench today ordered issue of notice to the Centre and the Chairman of State Bank of India (Central recruitment and Promotion) on a PIL seeking to quash notification for recruitment of 18,000 Junior Associates and Junior Agricultural Associates.
Justices R Mahadevan and S S Sundar also sought the Centre's explanation within two weeks on the PIL filed by S Gurukrishna Gokul, an aspirant.
Gokul submitted that as per the notification, the candidates with record of default in repayment of loans/or in whose name an adverse report in Credit Information Bureau Limited is available are not eligible to apply for the posts.

This condition would prevent a large number of economically and socially backward candidates from applying for the posts. If they were appointed, after selection process, they would be able repay the loans, he contended.
"This condition of the bank would only make more defaulters. Instead of giving employment to the candidates to make them repay loans, the bank was creating lakhs of defaulters of education loan by stipulating unreasonable and arbitrary ineligibility condition", he submitted.
Besides, the application for the posts had been invited only by online registration without giving wide advertisements in newspapers, which is against the dictum of the Supreme Court, he submitted.

While a major chunk of poor students were searching for jobs in government and public sector units, the ineligibility condition prevented poor students from applying for the examination, he submitted
The petitioner also sought a direction to the Chairman of SBI, Central Recruitment and Promotion Department, to issue a fresh notification so as to enable a large number of candidates to apply for the posts.