The court upheld the principle that the selection process must be conducted strictly in accordance with the stipulated selection procedure, and there cannot be any relaxation in terms and conditions of advertisement unless such power is specifically reserved in relevant rules or in the advertisement.

JUDGMENT :

Ashwani Kumar Singh, J.

Heard Mr Abhinay Alok, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Akash Chaturvedi, learned counsel for the Bihar Public Service Commission (for short 'BPSC').

2. The petitioner was an applicant under the 30th Bihar Judicial Service Competitive Examination initiated as per the Bihar Civil Service Judicial Branch (Recruitment) Rules 1955 as amended from time to time by the State Government. The recruitment in the said examination was to be made on the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division). A requisition for the same was sent to the BPSC by the General Administration Department, Government of Bihar vide letter no. 6906 dated 08.06.2017 for 349 posts. The roster for reservation category wise was:

3. The contention of the petitioner is that his candidature was cancelled by the respondent BPSC on the ground that he failed to produce original non-creamy layer certificate at the time of interview in terms of requirement under interview letter.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the BPSC has adopted a hyper technical approach and rejected the candidature of the petitioner on frivolous ground that he failed to produce the original non-creamy layer certificate for verification at the time of interview.

5. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the BPSC submitted that the requirement to produce the non-non-creamy layer certificate in original for verification is clearly mentioned in clause 3(v) of the interview letter and the petitioner failed to produce the same for verification. He contended that in case of non-submission of above required certificate, result of the petitioner in PT and mains were cancelled and he was considered in the unreserved category. Since he secured lesser mark in the aforesaid preliminary test as well as mains, his candidature has been cancelled, which would be evident from the resolution of the BPSC.

6. Having heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the materials on record, we find substance in the submissions made on behalf of the BPSC. It is well settled that selection process has to be conducted strictly in accordance with the stipulated selection procedure which needs to be scrupulously maintained and there cannot be any relaxation in terms and conditions of advertisement unless such power is specifically reserved in relevant rules or in the advertisement.

7. In the instant case, we find that in the clause 3(v) of the interview letter, it is clearly stipulated that the candidates must bring original certificate for verification as stated in the original advertisement along with two self-attested photo copies of the same on the date of interview including non-creamy layer certificate and, in case, on the date of interview any candidate does not produce the said original certificates then no further time would be given for the same and the BPSC would be free to take appropriate decision with regard to the eligibility of such candidates. It was also clearly mentioned in clause 7 of the said interview letter that the candidature of the candidates called for interview is provisional and appearance in the interview would not confirm the candidature of the candidate. The BPSC had reserved its right to take necessary decision with regard to the eligibility of the candidates at the time of interview or thereafter.

8. Since the petitioner failed to submit his original non-creamy layer certificate, no fault can be found with the decision of the BPSC whereby it has cancelled the candidature of the petitioner in the reserved category and he was considered in the unreserved category. Since he has secured lesser marks in preliminary test as well as mains examination than the cut off marks of the unreserved category, he cannot have any gri