The judgment establishes the principle of balancing the interests of individuals and organizations, especially in cases involving technical wrong information, and emphasizes the importance of nurturing and protecting the aspirations of individuals, particularly those from humble origins.

PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J

1. Still in his teens, barely past eighteen, but less than nineteen years of age, armed with a Senior Secondary High School Certificate, the petitioner joined service under the Indian Air Force as an Airman on January 12, 2004. He obviously did so for the reason his parents could educate him no further and there was a financial constraint, if not stress, in the family. As a young lad, barely past the age of eighteen, the petitioner picked up public employment and after appropriating a small portion of his earning for himself, remitted the same to his parents so that in their old age, even they could find some joy in life. The petitioner is a native of village Khaleta District Rewari, Haryana.

2. But the petitioner had a higher vision in life. While serving the Indian Air Force he completed higher education and obtained a graduate degree. He kept on reading and enhancing his knowledge.

3. Who does not desire to achieve greater heights in life? Except the lazy, we can think of none.

4. The petitioner is not a lazy person. He not only acquired a further degree when in service, but even read enough to sit at a competitive examination conducted by UPSC for the post of Assistant Commandant in the Central Para Military Forces.

5. Responding to an advertisement dated May 29, 2010 inviting application from eligible candidates to sit at the examination pertaining to the recruitment of Assistant Commandants in the Central Para Military Forces, then aged 24 years, the petitioner submitted the necessary application form. He committed a mistake which is now being held against him. Required to certify in the application form that he had informed his department that he would be taking the examination in question, without informing his department, the petitioner submitted the application form and disclosed therein that he had informed his department.

6. The requirement of the form admittedly is, that those who are in Government service should either get the form forwarded through their office or alternatively could submit the form directly but expressly recording an undertaking in the form that they had informed the concerned department of having submitted the form.

7. The hard work put by the petitioner paid dividends when the result was declared in January 2012 and the petitioner’s name appeared at serial No.68 of the list of successful candidates allocated to Central Industrial Security Force. On March 26, 2012, the petitioner received a provisional letter of offer which required the petitioner to obtain a discharge from the Air Officer Commanding. The petitioner submitted the necessary application which was rejected on the ground that the petitioner had applied for the post in question without prior intimation to the department and additionally for the reason when the petitioner had applied for the post in question he had not completed 7 year’s service from the date of enrollment in the Indian Air Force.

8. As per Air Force Order No.14/2008 dated September 19, 2008, guidelines have been framed on permission to be granted to Air Force Personnel to apply for civil posts or posts in Public Sector Undertakings. Vide paragraph 1 of AFO 14/2008 it is stipulated that no Air Force personnel would be permitted to apply for a civil post or a post in a Public Sector Undertaking unless he has served for 7 years from the date of enrollment. Further, if the post is a Group “A” post, the right to be relieved from service is a matter of right but for other posts the right to be discharged is subject to the requirement and need of the Air Force which is based upon the criticality in the trade i.e. number of officers available in a particular discipline; and if the number is less, the same would be treated as a critical situation.

9. The post of Assistant Commandant in the Central Para Military Forces is admittedly a Group “A” post and thus the issue of criticality in the discipline in which the petitioner is serving in the Air