Delhi HC issues notice on PIL challenging EPFO recruitment criteria

New Delhi [India], March 5 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued a notice on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenges the recruitment process for Young Professionals by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The petition claims that EPFO allocates a special weightage of 15 to 30 marks out of a total of 100 if a candidate has completed their law degree from one of the top 40 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Institutes.
The argument presented is that this criterion not only discriminates against institutions functioning under the Central and various State Governments that do not fall within the top 40 NIRF Institutes but also constitutes a violation of Fundamental Rights.
The Bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued a notice to the concerned Ministry of Central Government and has scheduled the hearing for April 23.
The plea stated that in the evaluation or selection criteria process, the weightage of each mark is crucial, and such a criterion is not only violative of the institutions functioning under the aegis of the Central Government and other State Governments not belonging to the top 40 NIRF Institutes criterion but also a clear violation of the Fundamental Rights (Article 14 & Article 16) vested under Part III of the Constitution of India.