The fixation of the cut off date for age limits in competitive examinations is primarily for the executive to determine, and the Court should not interfere unless the fixation is blatantly discriminatory and arbitrary.

V.Kameswar Rao, J.

1. The aforesaid two writ petitions involve identical issue and with the consent of counsel for the parties, are being disposed of by this common order.

2. In the month of February, 2011, an advertisement was issued by the respondent No.2 Staff Selection Commission (SSC) inviting applications for recruitment to the post of Constables (GD) in the Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) for the year 2011-2012 by holding an open competitive examination on All India basis. Some of the relevant clauses in the advertisement are as under:

“2. In view of the anticipated large number of applicants, scrutiny of the eligibility and other aspects will not be undertaken before the PST/PET and Written Examination and, therefore, the candidature will be accepted only provisionally. Candidates are advised to go through the requirements of educational qualification, age, physical standards, etc. and satisfy themselves that they are eligible for the posts, before applying. Copies of supporting documents will be sought only from those candidates who qualify for the medical Examination. When scrutiny is undertaken after the Written Examination, if any claim made in the application is not found substantiated, the candidature will be cancelled and the Commission’s decision in this regard shall be final.”

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4. (A) AGE LIMITS 18-23 years as on 01.08.2011. Candidates should not have been born earlier than 02.08.1988 and not later than 31.07.1993. Note I: The upper age limit is relaxable for SC, ST, OBC, Ex-Servicemen and other categories of persons in accordance with the Government orders on the subject.

Note II: Candidates should note that only the Date of Birth as recorded in the Matriculation/Secondary Examination Certificate or an equivalent certificate available on the date of submission of application will be accepted by the Commission for determining the age eligibility and no subsequent request for its change will be considered or granted.

4. (B) Category-Codes and age relaxation available to different category of eligible candidates, for claiming Age Relaxation as on the date of reckoning:

Code No.

Category

Age-Relaxation permissible beyond the Upper age limit

01

SC/ST

5 years

02

OBC

3 years

09

Ex-Servicemen (Unreserved/General)

03 years after deduction of the military service rendered from the actual age as on the date of reckoning

10

Ex-Servicemen (OBC)

06 years (3 years

3 years) after deduction of the military service rendered from the actual age as on the date of reckoning

Note-II : The period of “Call up Service” of an Ex-Serviceman in the Armed Forces shall also be treated as service rendered in the Armed Forces for purposes of age relaxation.

Note-III : For any serviceman of the three Armed Forces of the Union to be treated as Ex-Serviceman for the purpose of securing the benefits of reservation, he must have already acquired, at the relevant time of submitting his application for the

Post/Service, the status of ex-serviceman and/or is in a position to establish his acquired entitlement by documentary evidence from the competent authority that he would complete specified term of engagement from the Armed Forces within the stipulated period of one year from the CLOSING DATE (i.e. 04.03.2011).”

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Note I: The closing date i.e. 04.03.2011 for receipt of application will be treated as the date of reckoning for OBC and creamy layer status of the candidate. Note II: Candidates are warned that they will be permanently debarred from the examination conducted by the Commission. In case they fraudulently claim SC/ST/OBC/Ex-Servicemen status.

5. ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS as on Closing Date i.e. 04.03.2011 Matriculation or X Class Pass from recognized Board/University.

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The Tentative Schedule for Recruitment is: PST/PET : March to May, 2011 Written Examination : 5th June, 2011 Medical Examination : July-August, 2011 Declaration of Result : 31st October, 2011”

3. Writ Petition No.6636/2011 is concerned with t