IMPORTANT POINT
Certificate for claiming reservation can be submitted even after last date of filing applications but before publication of provisional result.

JUDGMENT :

V. Gopala Gowda, J.

Leave granted.

2. The present appeals arise out of the impugned common judgment and order dated 24.01.2012 passed by the High Court of Delhi in Letters Patent Appeal No.562 of 2011 and Writ Petition (C) No. 8087 of 2011 whereby the High Court set aside the judgment and order dated 24.11.2010 passed in Writ Petition (C) No. 382 of 2009, wherein the learned single Judge had allowed the Writ Petition and directed the respondents to accept the O.B.C. certificate of the appellants herein.

3. The important question of law to be decided in these appeals is whether a candidate who appears in an examination under the O.B.C. category and submits the certificate after the last date mentioned in the advertisement is eligible for selection to the post under the O.B.C. category or not.

4. As the question of law arising in all these appeals is similar, for the sake of convenience and brevity, we refer to the facts of Civil Appeal arising out of SLP(C) No.27550 of 2012, which has been filed against the impugned judgment and order dated 24.02.2012, The necessary relevant facts required to appreciate the rival legal contentions advanced on behalf of the parties are stated in brief hereunder :-

The respondent-Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (hereinafter referred to as “the DSSSB”) invited applications for selection to the post of Staff Nurse in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of NCT of Delhi by way of publishing an Advertisement No. 09/2007 in the Newspaper. The last date of submission of the application form in the advertisement for the said post was 21.01.2008. The appellant submitted his application form before the due date and was subsequently issued the admit card to appear in the examination. Having appeared in the examination, he was shortlisted for selection. However, his name did not appear in the final list of selected candidates. On enquiry, he was informed by the concerned official that he was not selected to the post for the reason that he had failed to submit the OBC certificate issued by the appropriate authority along with application form before the last date of submission of application form.

5. Aggrieved of the action of respondent-DSSSB, the appellant, along with the other aggrieved candidates, filed Writ Petition(C) No.382 of 2009 before the learned single Judge of the High Court of Delhi, seeking the issuance of a writ of mandamus commanding the respondent-DSSSB to accept the OBC certificates submitted by them after the cut off date for selection to the post of Staff Nurse in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi as provided in the advertisement. The appellant relied on the judgment dated 11.02.2009 passed in Writ Petition (C) No. 9112 of 2008 by the High Court of Delhi in the case of Pushpa v. Government of NCT of Delhi and Ors., whereby the High Court had granted O.B.C. benefit to the petitioners therein.

6. The learned single Judge disposed of the writ petition vide judgment and order dated 24.11.2010, placing reliance on the judgment in the case of Pushpa (supra), wherein the controversy centred around the same advertisement/Notification issued by the same respondent. The learned single Judge observed that the only ground for declining the applications filed by the appellants was that the O.B.C. certificates had been issued and submitted after the cut off date and therefore they were not eligible for appointment to the post. The learned single Judge further held that the respondent did not cite any other authority to distinguish the decision in Pushpa’s case (supra) from the facts of the present case. Consequently, the learned single Judge disposed of the writ petition and directed the respondent to reconsider the application of the appellant and the other aggrieved candidates against the O.B.C. category within a period of one month.

7. Aggrieved, the respondent-DSSSB filed Letters Patent Appeal No. 562 of 2011 before the Division Benc