The main legal point established in the judgment is the application of Section 6 of the Post Office Act, 1898, which exempts the government from liability for postal delays.

Mihir Kumar Jha, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The writ petitioner, an aspirant, for the post of Civil Judge, Junior Division under Bihar Judicial Service has filed this writ application for quashing of an order dated 15.12.2009 (Annexure-3), a communication of the Bihar Public Service Commission (in short BPSC), intimating the rejection of the application for the said post on the ground that it was received after the prescribed last date of receiving of such applications with a consequential prayer that since the preliminary examination had already been conducted by the BPSC on 30.12.2009, the BPSC be directed to conduct a special preliminary examination exclusively for the writ petitioner for considering his case for the appointment on the said post alongwith other candidates.

3. The necessary facts to be noticed, as has been projected in this writ application, lie in a narrow compass. The BPSC by an advertisement no. 45 of 2009 had invited application for 217 posts of Civil Judge, Junior Division under Bihar Judicial Service on 3rd July, 2009 which was in continuation to the earlier advertisement no. 3 of 2008. In the said advertisement, the BPSC had fixed the date and time as 5 PM on 3.8.2009 to be the last date for receiving of applications through registered or speed post from intending eligible candidates. It is the case of the petitioner who was working as Court Master in Custom, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Kolkata that he had sent his application on 29.7.2009 from Entally Post Office, Kolkata by speed post to the office of B.P.S.C. at Patna and in support of this fact, he has also enclosed the postal receipt showing the submission of application under the speed post at 14.26 Hrs. on 29.7.2009. It is the case of the writ petitioner that the Commission, thereafter, by a letter no. 2241 dated 15.12.2009 had communicated that since his application was received after the last date, the same was rejected in terms of the advertisement.

4. The petitioner, thereafter, is said to have made enquiry from the Postmaster of Entally Post Office, Kolkata on 24.12.2009 as with regard to delivery of his application which had merely acknowledged that the speed post article was booked and distributed on 29.7.2009 as would appear from the endorsement by the Sub-Postmaster of Entally Sub-Post Office, Kolkata on the application itself filed by the writ petitioner. The petitioner claims that thereafter he had approached the Chief Postmaster of General Post Office, Patna making enquiry as to how his application sent from Kolkata on 29.7.2009 could not be received and delivered to addressee B.P.S.C. at Patna on or before 3.8.2009 especially when the speed post is usually expected to be delivered within three days. It is claimed by the petitioner that he had however received no reply from the GPO, Patna. The petitioner claims that he had also filed an application before the Secretary of the BPSC on 29.12.2009 requesting him to issue the admit card for the preliminary test to be held on 30.12.2009 as he was not to be blamed for the delayed receipt of the application sent by him through the speed post. The petitioner, however, was not allowed to sit in the examination conducted on 30.12.2009, whereafter, he has filed the present writ application on 28.1.2010.

5. Mr. Mrigank Mauli, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the moment the BPSC had fixed the mode of receipt of application only through registered post or speed post through an official agency governed by Post Office Act, 1898, such post office became the agent of the BPSC and if therefore there was any laches on the part of the post office agent in performing its duty, the BPSC, being the principal, could not have disowned the liability and as such, was under compulsion to not only accept the application of the petitioner but would also to hold special examination for the petitioner. In this context, he has also placed reliance on