IMPORTANT POINT
Eligibility criteria for recruitment must be strictly enforced as of the application deadline, and any relaxation must be explicitly stated in the recruitment notification.

JUDGMENT :

HARISH TANDON, J.

1. The point on which the writ petition was decided by the Single Bench has not only been taken by the appellant being contrary to law but the horizon of the instant appeal has further been extended on the facts disclosed by the respondent authorities in the affidavit-in-opposition filed to an application for stay; some of which touches upon the facts, some on a pure question of law. We, therefore, permitted the appearing counsel to address all the issues in order to set at rest the issues raised by the writ petitioner in pursuit of rendering the justice.

2. The facts are more or less undisputed so far as the stand of both the parties before us. The petitioner and the respondent no. 4 in the instant appeal were appointed to the post of Demonstrator of Physiology in JNM Hospital, Kalyani. The notification was issued on 11.06.2018 inviting applications from the existing faculty members holding the post of Demonstrator for the promotional post of Assistant Professor in Physiology. It was clearly indicated in the said notification that the application in prescribed format shall be filed with the concerned head of the Department who shall forward the same to the Office of Principal, College of Medicine and JNM Hospital, Kalyani by 26th June, 2018 (4 pm). After receipt of the said applications within the time and the date so indicated therein, the Principal shall forward this application to the Office of the Registrar, West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) for further processing. It was further indicated that the reservation policy of the Government of West Bengal shall be strictly followed and the eligibility criteria shall be as per the Rules and Regulations of the Medical Council of India (MCI).

3. It is manifest from the said notification that the mode of selection to the promotional post was on the basis of the interview to be notified in due course. Undisputedly, the eligibility criteria as per the Rules of the MCI for the post of Assistant Teacher are MD in Physiology. The record further revealed that the petitioner/appellant was appointed as Demonstrator in Physiology on 12.11.2009 whereas the respondent no. 4 herein joined in the said post on 01.12.2009 and therefore for the purpose of seniority it is evidently clear that the respondent no. 4 was junior to the appellant. At the relevant point of time, the petitioner completed the MD course and the certificate in this regard was issued prior to the last date of application but admittedly the respondent no. 4 could get the certificate of successfully completed the said MD course on 23.07.2018.

4. According to the writ petitioner, there is no power conferred upon the authorities to dispense with the eligibility criteria in permitting the respondent no. 4 to compete in the selection test which should be restricted to the last date of an application. In other words, it is averred in the said writ petition that since the respondent no. 4 did not have the certificate of successfully completed the MD course on the last date of application, he was not eligible to offer his candidature in the said promotional examination. The petitioner raised the above issue after the declaration of the result by which the respondent no. 4 was promoted to the post of Assistant Professor in physiology before the competent authority which was kept in abeyance as no decision was taken thereupon which constrained the petitioner to file a writ petition before this Court being WP 23786 (W) of 2018 which was disposed of on 12th December, 2018 directing the West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) to pass a reasoned order on such representation.

5. Pursuant to the said direction the Registrar of the said University passed an order on 12.02.2019 rejecting the said application on this score that the respondent no. 4 was selected on merit on the basis of an interview after giving opportunity to all the participating candidates an equal chance. It was further highligh