SBI could proceed with the recruitment process of Clerks: Madras High court, Results expected soon

State Bank of India (SBI) has conducted the Preliminary Examination for the post of Junior Associates (JA) (Customer Support and Sales) and Junior Agriculture Associates (JAA) between May 22 and June 5. This year the examination was held for the recruitment of 18,000 posts in the bank.

On May 25, the Madras High Court bench had 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 the 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. In his PIL, Gokul had opposed the recruitment notification on the ground that it did not allow candidates to apply for exam if they had record of default in repayment of loans/or in whose name an adverse report in Credit Information Bureau Limited (CIBIL) is available. He said that this condition would prevent a large number of economically and socially backward candidates from applying for the posts. In his plea he contended that if such candidates get selected for the job they would be in a position to repay the loans. He also opposed the notification saying that 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.

The PIL filed by S Gurukirshna Gokul was heard by a bench comprised of Justices Nooty Ramamohana Rao and SS Sundar on June 7. The Justices said that the SBI could proceed with the recruitment process as several candidates had already filed their applications for the clerk positions, and would therefore be adversely affected if the examinations were cancelled.

However, the Justices also said that their final judgement, which is still pending, would have “an impact on the results of the entire recruitment process.”

The bank is expected to announce the results of its Clerk 2016 preliminary examination on its official website on June 17.

Court issues notice to SBI on Clerk recruitment 2016