Delhi High Court – Orders
Rahul Kumar vs National Highways Infrastructure … on 7 April, 2026
Author: Sanjeev Narula
Bench: Sanjeev Narula
$~85
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 4253/2026, CM APPL. 20671/2026
RAHUL KUMAR .....Petitioner
Through: Dr. Amit George, Mr. Ishaan
Mukherjee, Mr. Vaibhav Gandhi, Mr.
Shivam Parashar and Mr.
Sahasradeep Sharma, Advocates with
Petitioner in person.
versus
NATIONAL HIGHWAYS INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION LTD & ORS. .....Respondents
Through: Mr. Vikrant Nilesh Goyal, Mr. Yash
Basoya, Mr. Inderpreet Singh and
Mr. Kunal Dixit, Advocates for R-4.
Mr. Gaurav Khanna, Mr. Gautam
Barnwal and Ms. Sakshi Attri,
Advocates for R-1 to 3.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA
ORDER
% 07.04.2026
CM APPL. 20670/2026 (for exemption)
1. Exemption is granted, subject to all just exceptions.
2. The Petitioner shall file legible and clearer copies of exempted
documents, compliant with practice rules, before the next date of hearing.
3. Accordingly, the application stands disposed of.
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 1 of 6
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W.P.(C) 4253/2026, CM APPL. 20668/2026 (for stay) & CM APPL.
20669/2026 (for directions)
4. The Petitioner participated in the recruitment process for the post of
Deputy Manager (Technical), E-2 Grade, with the National Highways
Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd./Respondent No. 1. He
appeared in the GATE examination and secured an All India Rank of 45. On
the basis thereof, he was issued a provisional offer of appointment dated 17 th
November, 2025, followed by a formal appointment letter dated 25 th
November, 2025. Subsequently, by an office order dated 18th March, 2026,
the Petitioner’s appointment was revoked and his candidature for the said
post was cancelled, to the following effect:
“Whereas National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
(NHIDCL Ltd) published Recruitment Notice 01/2025 dated 27.09.2025 for
recruitment to 34 Posts of Deputy Manager (Technical) in E2 Grade of IDA pay
scale through direct recruitment;
And whereas, Sh. Rahul Kumar R/o Village – Khutan, P.O. – Dihra, Distt. –
Aurangabad, Bihar applied for the post of Deputy Manager (Technical);
And whereas, Sh. Rahul Kumar was given a provisional Offer of Appointment
on 17.11.2025 vide NHIDCL letter No. NHIDCL/HQ/HR/Rectt./2025/DM-
T/2904 and was given Appointment Letter vide No.
NHIDCL/HQ/HR/Rectt./2025/DM-T/3032 dated 25.11.2025;
And whereas, the Para 13 (g) and 13(h) of the Appointment Letter required Sh.
Rahul Kumar to furnish attestation form and Identity Certificate / Character
Certificate duly attested by any of the specified authority at the time of joining
NHIDCL;
And whereas, Sh. Rahul Kumar, through the Attestation Form submitted by him
at the time of joining NHIDCL, intimated that a FIR No. 43/2019 under section
143/341/323/353/329/427 of IPC was registered against him. Sh. Rahul Kumar
further vide Para No. 13(ii) of Attestation Form submitted that a Cr. Misc. Case
No. 66457 of 2024 was pending with Hon’ble High Court of Patna and had also
submitted a copy of order dated 08.08.2025 passed by Hon’ble Patna High
Court in Cr. Misc. Case No. 66457/2024 filed by him arising out of PS case No.
43 of the year 2019 (Thana-Karjain Distt.-Supaul). The said order reads as
under:
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 2 of 6
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“Heard the parties.
2. Call for the legible up-to-date photostat copy of the case diary from the
learned Court below where the case is pending / successor court in connection
with Karjain P.S. Case No. 43 of 2019.
3. Put up this case on 19th September, 2025.
4. In the meantime, further proceedings of aforementioned cases pending in the
concerned court below as against the petitioner, shall remain stayed.”
And whereas, NHIDCL vide its letter No E-262079 dated 18.12.2025 requested
the Superintendent of Police Distt. Supaul to send a report in respect of
character and antecedents along with the facts / status / gravity of charges in
the case relating to Sh. Rahul Kumar;
And whereas, no reply has been received from the Superintendent of Police
Distt. Supaul till date;
And whereas, para 10.4 of the National Highways & Infrastructure
Development Corporation Limited (Recruitment and Promotion) Rules, 2025
states that “in case of any incomplete/inaccurate submissions by the candidate,
or if any adverse observations are made in any of the joining related documents
and/or in the background verification process, the appointing authority may, at
its sole discretion, revoke the offer of appointment”;
Notwithstanding anything stated herein, all appointments made under these
Rules shall be provisional until all joining related documents are submitted and
formalities (including any and all of background verification processes) are
completed to the satisfaction of the recruitment authority, as per the extant
provisions of the operational instructions and/or standard operating procedures
notified by the Competent Authority.
And whereas, Para 13 (xv) of the Recruitment Notice No 01/2025 dated
27.09.2025 prescribes that, “if at any point of time, before or after the
appointment, the outcome of the background verification is found to be
unsatisfactory, NHIDCL reserves the right to withdraw or cancel the offer of
employment/appointment”;
And whereas, Para 17 of the Appointment Letter No.
NHIDCL/HQ/HR/Rectt./2025/DM-T/3032 dated 25.11.2025 issued to Sh. Rahul
Kumar states that “you are required to give an undertaking at the time of
joining that if any thing adverse comes out in the character and antecedents
verification that would make you ineligible for appointment in first instance,
then you shall be liable to be discharged from the service of the Company
forthwith without any further notice”;
And whereas, the issue of pendency of the said FIR No. 43/2019 and Cr. Misc.
Case No. 66457 of 2024 has been considered by the Competent Authority in
NHIDCL with regard to accepting / allowing the joining of Sh. Rahul Kumar on
the post of Deputy Manager (Tech) in NHIDCL;
Now, in view of the facts and circumstances in the matter, joining of Sh. Rahul
Kumar is not allowed. Further, as per para 10.4 of the National Highways &
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 3 of 6
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Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (Recruitment and Promotion)
Rules, 2025, the provisional Offer of Appointment dated 17.11.2025 issued to
Sh. Rahul Kumar is revoked and accordingly his candidature for the post of Dy.
Manager (Tech) in NHIDCL is cancelled from afternoon of the date of issue of
this order.
This issues with the approval of the Competent Authority in NHIDCL.”
5. A perusal of the impugned order reveals that the cancellation of the
Petitioner’s candidature is founded solely on his criminal antecedent,
namely, FIR No. 43/2019, registered at P.S. Karjaein for the offences under
Sections 143, 341, 323, 353, 379 and 427 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. It
is not in dispute that the said FIR pertains to the year 2019 and that, as of
date, the investigation is stated to be ongoing. The Court is informed that no
final report has been filed implicating the Petitioner as an accused. In fact,
when the Petitioner has approached the Patna High Court by way of a
quashing petition [Cr. Misc. Case No. 66457/2024], an interim order dated
8th August, 2025 was passed staying further proceedings before the
concerned Court.
6. It is also not in dispute that the Petitioner had made a full and candid
disclosure of the aforesaid criminal case in the attestation form. Despite such
disclosure, the Respondent Corporation has taken the view that the pendency
of a criminal case disentitles the Petitioner from public employment.
7. On this aspect, it is also noted that the Respondent Corporation had
addressed a communication to the Superintendent of Police, District Supaul,
seeking a report regarding the character and antecedents of the Petitioner,
indicating the facts, status, and gravity of the charges in the case in question.
However, no response was received from the police authorities. In the
absence of such verification, the Respondent Corporation proceeded to rely
on the provisions of the Recruitment and Promotion Rules, as well as the
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 4 of 6
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terms of the Appointment Letter, to conclude that the pendency of the
criminal case was sufficient to deny the Petitioner appointment to public
employment.
8. This Court has also perused the allegations contained in the FIR, on a
prima facie basis, for assessing the nature and gravity of the accusations
levelled. It emerges that the FIR relates to an incident which occurred during
the Petitioner’s college days while he was pursuing his engineering degree;
the alleged incident pertains to certain students entering the office of a
faculty member, causing damage to property, and assaulting a teacher. It is
specifically alleged that one Nitish Srivastav, Assistant Professor
(Mechanical Engineering), was assaulted with a wooden stick, resulting in
an injury to his head.
9. Pertinently, the FIR does not attribute any specific overt act to the
Petitioner, while it does mention that the teachers and academic staff
identified certain students and lists approximately 26 individuals, including
the Petitioner. The FIR also refers to certain eyewitnesses; however, there is
no material presently available on record, such as medical reports or
statements recorded during investigation, to substantiate the allegations.
10. In these circumstances, the impugned action appears to have been
taken solely on the basis of the FIR, without any supporting verification
report from the police authorities or further material emerging from
investigation. In the opinion of this Court, such an approach, particularly
having regard to the nature of the allegations and the stage of the
proceedings, prima facie raises concerns as to the reasonableness of the
decision-making process adopted by the Respondent Corporation.
11. Accordingly, till the next date of hearing, the post for which the
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 5 of 6
This is a digitally signed order.
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Petitioner had been granted provisional appointment shall be kept vacant.
The Respondents are further directed to release the outstanding salary of the
Petitioner up to the date of cancellation of his candidature.
12. Issue notice. Counsel for the Respondents, mentioned in the
appearance, above accept notice. Let counter affidavit be filed within three
weeks from today. Rejoinder thereto, if any, be filed before the next date of
hearing.
13. List on 19th May, 2026.
SANJEEV NARULA, J
APRIL 7, 2026
nk
W.P.(C) 4253/2026 Page 6 of 6
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.
The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 08/04/2026 at 21:43:03