New Delhi: In a major setback to the government, the Hyderabad bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed the appointment of Jaiteerth R. Joshi as Director General of BrahMos Aerospace and directed the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to reconsider the candidature of Sivasubramanyam Nambi Naidu for the post.
Joshi had assumed charge on December 1, 2024. The tribunal’s ruling followed a petition filed by Naidu, a DRDO Distinguished Scientist, who was among the three candidates shortlisted for the top position at the Indo-Russian joint venture.
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Naidu alleged that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the DRDO overlooked his seniority and experience while selecting Joshi. Agreeing with the petitioner, the CAT, in an order issued on Monday, said Joshi’s appointment was “quashed and set aside”.
The tribunal directed the MoD and the DRDO to reconsider Naidu’s claim for appointment as Director General of BrahMos within four weeks of receiving the order. Until a final decision is taken, the respondents were asked to make an “in-charge arrangement”, but not with Joshi.
Observing that there was “manifest arbitrariness” in the selection process, the CAT said that seniority, promotion, and pay level—earned through long service, hard work, and integrity—cannot be rendered insignificant in government service.
“Merely fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria does not entitle a candidate to selection. Although the second respondent (DRDO chief) is competent to choose one among the three recommended candidates, such selection cannot be arbitrary,” the tribunal noted.
The CAT order further stated that Naidu was the senior-most among the applicants. At the time of application, Joshi was serving as a Programme Director at Pay Level-15 and was the junior-most candidate. Naidu also pointed out that he holds the rank of Distinguished Scientist, while Joshi was an Outstanding Scientist—a position a level below.
According to the petition, Naidu topped the shortlisted candidates in terms of both merit and seniority, yet Joshi was selected.
Eight scientists had applied for the post, including two Distinguished Scientists and six Scientist ‘H’ officers. However, the tribunal observed that the Selection Committee recommended names in alphabetical order without citing any governing rule.
In its response, the MoD told the tribunal that the selection process, as outlined in the advertisement, involved scrutiny of applications by a screening panel to assess eligibility.
The panel, headed by the Chairman of the Recruitment and Assessment Centre (RAC), along with members including the Director of IIM Visakhapatnam, the Vice-Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), and the Director General (HR), DRDO Headquarters, conducted interaction meetings with eligible candidates before finalising the panel.
The CAT order can be challenged before the jurisdictional high court through a writ petition. It was not immediately clear whether the government would contest the ruling.
