The judgment establishes the importance of strict adherence to the prescribed format of certificates and the significance of administrative convenience in the scrutiny of documents submitted by candidates.

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.—

1. An advertisement was published in the Employment News dated 22-28 March, 2008 which was issued by the Union Public Service Commission on behalf of the Directorate of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy, Government of NCT, Delhi inviting applications from eligible candidates to be appointed as Medical Officer (Homeopathy). Four posts, with which we are concerned, were shown as reserved for members belonging to notified Scheduled Tribes.

2. The writ petitioner applied and cleared the written examination. Since she had applied as a Scheduled Tribe candidate indicating in the application form that she was a member of ‘Bhootia’ tribe, when UPSC sent the Detailed Application Form to be filled up and sent to UPSC before she was interviewed, the petitioner did so; and as required by the instructions issued in the Detailed Application Form she obtained from the competent authority a certificate purporting to certify that she belonged to the ‘Bhootia’ tribe. The certificate bears No.3402/2004 and is dated December 30, 2004. It is this certificate which is the bone of contention between the parties.

3. It is not in dispute that the Detailed Application Form sent to the petitioner contained exhaustive instructions, including the form of the certificate including language thereof, which was required to be furnished. The following was indicated:-

“(A) The form of certificate to be produced by Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates applying for appointment to posts under the Government of India. This is to certify that Shri/Shrimati/Kumar……son/daughter of……….of village/town ………….in District/Division……... of the State/Union Territory………belongs to the ……… caste/tribe which is recognized as a Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe under:- the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 @ the Constitution(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950@ the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Union Territories Order, 1951@ the Constitution(Scheduled Tribes) Union Territories Order, 1951@ (as amended by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes List (Modification) Order, 1956, the Bombay Reorganization Act, 1960, the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970, the North Eastern Areas (Reorganisation Act, 1971 and the Scheduled Castes and Schedules Tribes Order(Amendment) Act, 1976, the State of Mizoram Act, 1986, the State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986 and the Goa, Daman & Diu (Reorganization) Act, 1987) the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes order, 1955@) the Constitution (Andaman and Nocobar Islands) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1959 as amended by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Act, 1976 @ the Constitution (Dadar and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes order, 1962 @ the Constitution (Dadar and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962 the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes Order, 1964@ the Constitution (Uttar Pradesh) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1967@ the Constitution (Goa, Daman and Diu) Scheduled Castes Order, 1968@ the Constitution (Goa, Daman and Diu) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1968 the Constitution (Nagaland) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1970@ the Constitution (Sikkim)Scheduled Castes Order, 1978@ the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978, the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978, the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order, 1989 @ the Constitution (SC) Order (Amendment) Act, 1990@ the Constitution (ST) Order (Amendment) Act, 1991@ the Constitution(ST) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 1991@ the Constitution(Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Act, 1991 the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Act, 2002 @ the Constitution Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 2002@ the Constitution(Scheduled Castes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2002@ %2.Application in the case of Schedule Castes/Scheduled Tribes persons who have migrated from one State/Union Territory Administration to another. This ce