BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court directed the state government to clear the backlog vacancies at all its departments and institutions and accomplish the task on a war footing, with a limit of six months. 
A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit passed the order to undertake the drive as per its earlier orders and the circulars and notifications issued by the government to fill up the posts earmarked for the downtrodden communities. 

The order was passed while allowing an appeal filed by Dr M Manju Prasad, questioning the order dated June 6, 2023, passed by a single judge directing him to submit a representation to the principal secretary, Department of Medical Education, on filling up backlog vacancies in the Government Dental College and Research Institute in Bangalore. 

The petitioner had prayed before the single judge to issue a direction to the state government and its departments to fill up such vacancies earmarked for SC/STs and backward communities at the institution within a time frame. 

The division bench said the single judge proceeded on an erroneous factual premise that the statistical data on the backlog vacancy position was not available when it was on record. The impugned order suffers from misdirection in law and is liable to be voided, as argued by the counsel for the appellant, it said. 
It said the council is more than justified in submitting that the backlog vacancies cannot be left unfilled. It would amount to denial to these communities' preferential treatment as constitutionally ordained. 

That would eventually deprive community representation in public employment and therefore cannot be countenanced, it added.  The division bench said the state government stated about the Dental Institute not undertaking the recruitment, despite a letter written by the Medical Education Department on May 9, 2022.