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2020 Supreme(Raj) 246
IN THE HIGH COURT OF RAJASTHAN AT JAIPUR BENCH
Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, J.
Suman Jat - Appellant
Versus
State Of Rajasthan - Respondent
Civil Writ Petition No. 15115 of 2018, 14081 of 2018, 14825 of 2018, 15100 of 2018, 15103 of 2018, 15105 of 2018, 15177 of 2018, 15414 of 2018, 15438 of 2018, 17277 of 2018, 21712 of 2019, 21960 of 2019, 246 of 2020, 1551 of 2020
Decided On : 18-02-2020
Raj Sharma, Advocate, Ram Rakh Sharma, Advocate, Kailash Sharma, Advocate, Harshal Tholia, Advocate
The proviso to Rule 11 of the Rajasthan Medical and Health Subordinate Service Rules, 1965, which allows candidates who are appearing or have appeared in the final year examination of the course to apply for the post, does not apply to the selection process for the post of FHW, as the selection is based solely on the marks obtained in the qualifying examination and there is no interview or written examination.
Headnote:
FEMALE HEALTH WORKER - QUALIFICATION - LAST DATE OF APPLICATION - VERIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS - INTERVIEW - [RULE 11 OF THE RAJASTHAN MEDICAL AND HEALTH SUBORDINATE SERVICE RULES, 1965] - WHETHER THE CANDIDATES WHO WERE APPEARING OR HAD APPEARED FOR THE EXAMINATION FOR THE AUXILIARY NURSE MIDWIFERY TRAINING COURSE, ON THE LAST DATE OF FILLING UP THE APPLICATION FORM, COULD BE DENIED CONSIDERATION FOR APPOINTMENT ? AND WHETHER THE QUALIFICATIONS AS REQUIRED UNDER THE ADVERTISEMENT ARE TO BE EXAMINED ON THE LAST DATE OF APPLICATION FIXED UNDER THE ADVERTISEMENT OR ON THE DATE WHEN THE DOCUMENTS ARE VERIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPOINTMENT ON THE POST OF FEMALE HEALTH WORKER (FHW)?
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners were undergoing a two-year Diploma course in Nursing in Paramedical Colleges recognized by the Rajasthan Paramedical Council. Their First Year Examination had already been conducted in June, 2017 and they were pursuing their studies of Second Year when the advertisement was issued by the Directorate of Rajasthan Medical and Health Department on 18/06/2018 inviting applications for filling up the posts of Female Health Worker. In all 4965 posts were advertised.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the candidates who are appearing or have appeared for examination for Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery Training Course on the last date of filling up of the application form would not be eligible for consideration for appointment on the post of Female Health Worker; the qualification as required under the advertisement are to be examined on the last date of submission of application forms as fixed under the advertisement in the cases where the selection is to be done only on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, as mentioned in the application form.
Issues: 1. Whether the candidates who were appearing or had appeared for the examination for the Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery Training Course, on the last date of filling up the application form, could be denied consideration for appointment ? 2. Whether the qualifications as required under the advertisement are to be examined on the last date of application fixed under the advertisement or on the date when the documents are verified by the department for the purpose of appointment on the post of Female Health Worker (FHW)?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The proviso to Rule 11 of the Rajasthan Medical and Health Subordinate Service Rules, 1965, which allows candidates who are appearing or have appeared in the final year examination of the course to apply for the post, does not apply to the selection process for the post of FHW, as the selection is based solely on the marks obtained in the qualifying examination and there is no interview or written examination. 2. The counselling process for verification of documents cannot be equated to an interview, as it does not involve any assessment or grading of the candidates. 3. The condition that a candidate must be present on the appointed date for verification of documents is directory and not mandatory, and the selecting body may allow a candidate to submit their documents on another date for good reasons.
Final Decision: All the writ petitions are accordingly dismissed. All pending applications also stand dismissed. No costs.
JUDGMENT
Sanjeev Prakash Sharma, J. - All these writ petitions are being commonly decided as the question involved as to whether the candidates who were appearing or had appeared for the examination for the Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery Training Course, on the last date of filling up the application form, could be denied consideration for appointment ? and Whether the qualifications as required under the advertisement are to be examined on the last date of application fixed under the advertisement or on the date when the documents are verified by the department for the purpose of appointment on the post of Female Health Worker (hereinafter referred as 'FHW')?, are identical to all of them.
2. For the purpose of disposal of the issue, the facts of SB Civil Writ Petition No.15115/2018 (Suman Jat & anr. Vs. The State of Raj. & ors.) are being noticed as a lead case.
3. The petitioners were undergoing two years Diploma course in Nursing in Paramedical Colleges recognized by the Rajasthan Paramedical Council. Their First Year Examination had already been conducted in June, 2017 and they were pursuing their studies of Second Year when the advertisement was issued by the Directorate of Rajasthan Medical and Health Department on 18/06/2018 inviting applications for filling up the posts of Female Health Worker. In all 4965 posts were advertised.
3.1 As per point no.5 of the advertisement, the qualifications laid down were that a candidate must have pased 10th standard and must have passed the Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery Training Course and be registered with the Rajasthan Nursing Council as B Grade Nurse. The last date of submission of on-line application form was mentioned as 23/07/2018 and it was provided that the eligibility requirement mentioned in point no.5 should be possessed before the last date of filing of the on-line application form.
3.2 The advertisement further provided in clause 12 that for the purpose of verification of documents, the candidates shall be invited by the department or by the organization nominated for the said purpose by the department to be present personally on the date fixed and at the place as directed. Those candidates, who are called for verification of the documents, would be required to be present on the appointed place alongwith hard copy of the application form alongwith original documents and additional self attested photo copies of all the documents which include the documents relating to their educational qualification and other required certificates including caste certificate and other relevant documents and certificates. It was further provided that if a candidate does not remain present on the date fixed by the department alongwith his documents, his candidature shall be rejected. The basis of calling the candidates would solely rest on the information mentioned by them in the on-line application form and the responsibility would lie on the candidate of getting his eligibility duly verified and the verification of documents would not mean selection but would relate to examining the eligibility of the candidate.
3.3 The mode of selection under the advertisement is on the basis of merit prepared which was to be calculated on the basis of the marks obtained in the professional examination plus bonus marks to be given on the basis of experience gained in terms of Rule 19 of the Rajasthan Medical and Health Subordinate Service Rules, 1965 (hereinafter referred as 'the Rules of 1965').
3.4 As the petitioners had not completed their course, their online application forms were not accepted and they, therefore, preferred the present writ petitions challenging the condition of the advertisement on the ground for not incorporating the amendment made in Rule 11 of the Rules of 1965 wherein proviso was added to Rule 11 of the Rules of 1965 for declaring those candidates as eligible for participation in the selection process who had appeared or were appearing in the final year examination of the course which
