Pending case no bar: Telangana HC orders CWC exam result

The High Court had earlier held that merely having a criminal case pending against a candidate is not grounds to disqualify him under Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to declare the examination result of a candidate for the post of Chairperson of a Child Welfare Committee (CWC), after he had appeared for the exam under an earlier interim order of the court.

The High Court had earlier held that merely having a criminal case pending against a candidate is not grounds to disqualify him under Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, which bars only those who have actually been convicted and not those merely facing a pending case, and had directed authorities to issue him a hall ticket for the exam. 

Since he had gone on to take the exam under that order, the court has now directed that his result be declared without further delay.

How the case reached High Court

The petitioner, who had earlier served as a member of the Child Welfare Committee in Adilabad district, had applied for the post of Chairperson following a notification issued in July 2025. Although he applied within the deadline, he was unable to download his hall ticket ahead of the written exam scheduled for April 19, 2026, and approached the High Court as a result.

During the hearing, the state government told the court that his application had not been processed because he had allegedly marked “yes” against a column asking whether he had been found guilty of misusing powers under the Juvenile Justice Act. The petitioner disputed this, saying he had never selected that option.

Relying on Section 27 of the Juvenile Justice Act and the Supreme Court‘s ruling in Sumit Mehta v State of NCT of Delhi, Justice Surepalli Nanda passed an interim order on April 17 directing the authorities to issue the petitioner a hall ticket and let him take the exam, while ordering that his result not be declared until further orders. 

“A bare perusal of Section 27 of JJ Act, 2015, clearly indicates that a pending case is not a criterion for disqualification of the candidate and as per the said Section, only the convicted candidates alone are eligible for disqualification,” the judge had observed at the time.

Result ordered to be declared

When the matter came up for final hearing, the petitioner’s counsel told the court that he had appeared for the exam as directed, but that his result remained withheld because of the court’s own earlier order and that since interviews for the post were due to begin from June 25, the result needed to be declared urgently. 

The government pleader confirmed to the court that the result had been withheld only because of the interim order, and that it would now be declared.

Recording the submissions of both sides, the High Court disposed of the petition, directing the authorities to “declare forthwith the result of the petitioner’s examination held on 19.04.2026” for the post of Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee.