In Brief
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's quashing of the appointment of Meena Verma (appellant) as a part-time member of the Himachal Pradesh Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. Both Verma and the second respondent had obtained equal marks in the selection process and were ranked 3rd and 2nd respectively. The State Government appointed Verma citing her 'public experience', but no rules or guidelines existed to justify this deviation from the merit-based ranking. The Court held that in the absence of any legal framework permitting such discretion, the appointing authority must follow the Selection Committee's merit order, and introducing unanticipated criteria violates Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.",
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