JUDGMENT

K. S. Radhakrishnan, J.:-Leave granted.

2. The question raised in this case is whether the Public Service Commission of West Bengal (for short ‘the Commission’) was justified in considering the application of respondent No.1 as a general candidate for recruitment to the West Bengal Judicial Service Examination, 2007 rather than a member of the Scheduled Tribe Community.

3. The Commission circulated a notification on 17th January, 2007 for the information to the candidates on 17th February, 2007 of its conducting West Bengal Judicial Service Examination 2007. In response to the said information the respondent submitted his application by paying an amount of Rs.200/-, as required by the candidates in the general category in order to appear for the examination of 2007. In the application form he had mentioned that he belonged to ‘Gonda Community’ - Scheduled Tribe Community and also attached a certificate from the Director, Backward Class Welfare, West Bengal. The Commission considered the application of the respondent as a general candidate since he had not produced the certificate required to be produced from the competent authority. The respondent then attended preliminary examination and final examination as a general candidate. The result of the West Bengal Judicial Service Examination 2007 was published in the newspapers on 29.9.2007 and the respondent was shown as a general category candidate. Later the respondent appeared for the personality test as a general category candidate on 4.12.2007. The Commission published the list of 152 selected candidates on 20.3.2008 and the respondent’s name was rank No.86 among the general category candidates, he could not get appointment.

4. The respondent then preferred a representation on 24.4.2008 to the Chairman of the Commission and to the various authorities to consider him as a member of the Scheduled Tribe Community and be selected in that category for the examination held in 2007. Since there was no response, he filed Writ Petition No.9756 (W) of 2008 before the High Court of Calcutta contending that since his status as a Scheduled Tribe was not in question, he should not have been considered as a general category candidate especially in view of the certificate produced by him from the Director, West Bengal Backward Class Welfare. Learned Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court noticed that he had produced a certificate issued by the Director, Backward Class Welfare, West Bengal on 08.01.2003 along with the application and hence he should have been considered as a member of the Scheduled Tribe Community, going by the principle laid down by this court in Kumari Madhuri Patil and another v. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development and others (1994) 6 SCC 241. Learned Single Judge therefore directed the Commission and the High Court to appoint the respondent in West Bengal Judicial Service pursuant to the examination conducted in the year 2007 treating him as a member of the Scheduled Tribe Community.

5. The Registrar General, aggrieved by the judgment of the learned Single Judge filed FMA No.1217 of 2010 before the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court. The Division Bench also concurred with the view of the learned Single Judge and dismissed the appeal. Against which the present appeal has been filed by the Registrar General, Calcutta High Court.

6. Shri Jaideep Gupta, learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that the High Court has committed an error in over- looking the specific conditions prescribed in the information to the candidates for the West Bengal Judicial Service Examination 2007. Learned senior counsel submitted that the information specifically stipulated that the caste certificate should be produced from a competent authority as specified in the West Bengal Judicial Service and STs (Identification) Act, 1994 and SCs/STs Welfare Department Order No.261-TW/EC/MR-103/94 dated 6th April, 1995. Further it is also pointed out that no cla