LUCKNOW, May 23 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has ruled that the pendency of a criminal case in which the candidate is a declared juvenile and another case where a final closure report has been submitted cannot act as an absolute bar to public employment. With this ruling, the court directed the regional director of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to issue a joining letter to a candidate selected for the post of multi-tasking staff (MTS). The single-judge bench of Justice Shree Prakash Singh passed the judgment on May 21 on a petition filed by a candidate Shusheel Tripathi challenging withholding of his joining letter. Allowed the plea, the court observed that depriving a candidate of their livelihood merely based on allegations without an adjudication of guilt is improper and unjustifiable. The ESIC issued an advertisement on December 28, 2021, for recruitment to the posts of upper division clerks, stenographers, and multi-tasking staff in Uttar Pradesh region. The petitioner applied for the post of MTS under the unreserved category. After qualifying in the preliminary and then in the main examination held on June 5, 2022, his name appeared on the list of shortlisted candidates on June 10, 2024. Following document verification on June 20, 2024, the petitioner received an offer of appointment on July 9, 2024. He accepted the offer and submitted his attestation form on July 18, 2024, at the ESIC regional office in Kanpur. In the form, he disclosed two pending criminal cases against him. While other similarly situated candidates were permitted to join, the petitioner's joining letter was withheld. On February 13, 2025, the ESIC informed him that as per department of personnel and training guidelines dated March 30, 2016, police verification is a condition precedent prior to the final acceptance of the appointment and the issuance of a joining letter. After hearing the matter, the court directed the authority to issue the joining letter to the petitioner, ignoring the pendency of the criminal cases against him, within thirty days....