In Brief
Candidates challenging Rule 5A(3) of The Bihar Civil Service (Judicial Branch) (Recruitment) Rules, 1955, which limited final examination calls to 10% of preliminary examination attendees, sought to enforce the Supreme Court's 1:10 vacancy-to-candidate ratio principle from Malik Mazhar Sultan. The Court held Rule 5A(3) unconstitutional and arbitrary, as it unreasonably restricted the competitive field and violated established recruitment principles. The Court also noted the absence of prescribed minimum passing marks violated sound procedure. The 10% restriction was struck down. Future examinations must have minimum passing marks prescribed by the State Government, though the present examination's cut-off marks were deemed reasonable and valid.
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