IMPORTANT POINTS:
• View the cut off date which is fixed in the present case with reference to the beginning of the calendar year following the date of application, cannot be considered as capricious or unreasonable.

Chitambaresh, J.

1. Applications were invited online from qualified candidates for appointment to the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil) in the Kerala Government Service by notification of the Kerala Public Service Commission ('PSC' for short). The notification published in the Extra-ordinary Gazette dated 29.12.2018 mentioned the last date for online application as 30.1.2019 specifying the category number also. The notification prescribed the age limit for direct recruitment as 21-40 and explicitly stated that only candidates born between 2.1.1978 and 1.1.1997 are eligible to apply. It was also stated therein that usual age relaxation as specified in the General Conditions would be given to candidates belonging to SC/ST and Other Backward Communities.

2. The petitioner who was born on 28.2.1997 and acquired a B. Tech degree from the Mahatma Gandhi University with First Class on an average Cumulative Grade Point of 8.46 also attempted to apply online. But the application could not be uploaded since the software designed refused to accept the same for the reason that the petitioner is a candidate born after 1.1.1997. The contention of the petitioner is that she has completed 21 years of age as on the midnight of 30.1.2019 which is the last date for receipt of the application as per the notification. The Kerala Administrative Tribunal ('Tribunal' for short) refused to countenance the plea of the petitioner and hence this original petition challenging the non-acceptance.

3. We heard Mr. P.K. Ibrahim, Advocate on behalf of the petitioner and Mr P.C. Sasidharan, Standing Counsel for the PSC as well as Mr T. Rajasekharan Nair, Senior Government Pleader in the case.

4. It would suffice in the normal circumstances that a candidate need satisfy the qualifications prescribed as on the last date for submitting application though this case has a distinguishing feature. The recruitment here is governed by the Kerala Engineering Service (Civil and General Branch) Rules, 1965 ('Rules' for short) and Rule 4A thereof prescribes the qualification regarding age. The relevant part of the Rule is extracted hereunder:

“4A. Qualification regarding age -No person shall be eligible for appointment by direct recruitment if he has not completed 21 years of age or has completed 39 years of age on the first day of January of the year in which the applications for appointment are invited.”

The first day of January of the year in which applications for appointment are invited in the instant case is 1.1.2018 since the notification was published by the PSC in the Extra-ordinary Gazette dated 29.12.2018. The date cannot be pushed to the year 2019 (even though the last date for submitting application falls on 2019) since the year in which the applications are invited is relevant.

5. The above Rule is strictly in consonance with Public Services (Date for Determination of Age for Eligibility for Appointment) Rules, 1977 ('Age Rules' for short) and Rule 2 thereof is as follows:

“2. Date for determination of age for eligibility for appointment to Public Services -With effect on and from the commencement of these rules, the Special Rules for the various State Services and Subordinate Services, in force at such commencement, shall stand modified as if the date specified in those Special Rules for determination of the age for eligibility for appointment to posts included in the various services had been modified as the 1st January of the year in which applications for appointment to such posts are invited:

Provided that nothing in this rule shall apply to any appointment to be made in pursuance of any notification inviting applications, published before the commencement of these rules.”

The criteria for determination of the age for eligibility for appointment to the post thus stand modified as the 1st January of the year in which the applications are invited even if there is anything contrary in the Rules. The Explanatory Note to the Age Rules reflects that it is inte