No deviation from the terms and conditions of the advertisement and rules for the recruitment would be permitted.

JUDGMENT

Navin Chawla, J. - The petition has been heard by way of video conferencing.

1. The present petition has been filed seeking direction to the respondent nos. 3 and 4 to verify the documents of the petitioner and to clear him for participation in Stage-III of the recruitment process for the post of Navik (GD) in the Indian Coast Guard (in short, 'ICG').

2. It is the case of the petitioner that pursuant to the advertisement published by the ICG, the petitioner applied for the post of Navik (GD) in the ICG through online mode. The petitioner appeared for and cleared the Stage-I written examination conducted on 27.09.2021 at Vijaywada, andhra Pradesh. Pursuant to same, the petitioner also qualified Stage-II of the recruitment process, which was a physical examination conducted on 17.11.2021 at the Examination Centre, Goa. The petitioner, however, was declared 'fail' at the time of verification of documents though all his documents were in order and he had produced them for verification.

3. The respondents supplied their counter affidavit through email. The same is taken on record. The learned counsel for the petitioner waived his right to file rejoinder.

4. In the counter affidavit filed by the respondents, it has been asserted that the candidature of the petitioner was rejected as:-

(a) There was a mismatch of the percentage obtained by the petitioner in his Class XII examination and the percentage uploaded by the petitioner in his online application. The percentage mentioned in the marksheet is 68.80%, while the petitioner had mentioned the same as 69.5% in his application form;

(b) The petitioner had uploaded his Class XII mark-sheet instead of his Category Certificate (OBC) in the online application;

(c) There was a discrepancy with respect to the date of issue of the Category Certificate (OBC), as the petitioner had mentioned 15.01.2021 as the date of issue in his online application form, whereas the date of issue as per the certificate was 14.07.2021.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner had committed a bona fide mistake in mentioning his percentage marks as 69.5% instead of 68.80% as the petitioner was under the impression that the percentage of marks has to be calculated on the basis of the marks obtained only in the subjects of Physics and Mathematics. He further submits that the petitioner inadvertently uploaded his Class XII mark-sheet instead of the scanned copy of his Category Certificate (OBC) with the application form and mentioned the wrong date of the certificate, however, the same is of no consequence as the petitioner had produced the original Category Certificate (OBC) at the stage of document verification.

6. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondents submits that the advertisement calling for applications clearly forewarned the applicants that any inconsistency in the documents and the application will lead to failure in document verification and the candidature will be cancelled. The same was again highlighted in the E-admit Card issued to the petitioner. He submits that the petitioner was, therefore, rightly declared fail by the recruitment board. He submits that the selection process has already been completed, the list has also been declared and the date of 12.02.2022 is fixed for reporting of selected candidates.

7. We have considered the submissions made by both the parties.

8. Paragraph 5 of the advertisement, which called for applications for the ICG as Navik (GD), Navik (Domestic Branch) and Yantrik, states that a mismatch between the documents produced at the verification stage and the documents uploaded as part of the online application would result in cancellation of the candidature. The relevant portion is reproduced herein below:

'5. Selection Procedure. The selection of recruits is based on an all India order of merit on their performance in Stage-I, II, III & IV (explained in detail below) and the number of vacancies available for the post. Cle