The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for candidates to possess valid OBC-NCL certificates within the specified timelines as per the advertisement and subsequent notice issued by the Rajasthan High Court, emphasizing the importance of adhering to the specified timelines for submitting certificates.

JUDGMENT

1. The petitioner is a candidate aspiring for selection under the OBC (NCL) category to the post of Civil Judge cadre under the provisions of Rajasthan Judicial Service Rules, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Rules of 2010'). The respondent No.2 Registrar (Examination), Rajasthan High Court issued an advertisement dated 22.07.2021 inviting online application forms from eligible and desirous candidates for direct recruitment to the vacant posts in the Civil Judge cadre under the Rules of 2010. A total of 120 posts were notified out of which, 24 were reserved for the Other Backward Class-Non Creamy layer (OBC-NCL) category. The last date for submitting the online application forms was fixed as 31.08.2021.

2. As per the petitioner, the applicants were required to submit the complete details in the online application forms but there was no requirement to upload the corresponding documents along with the online application forms. The petitioner has asserted that no cut-off date was prescribed/specified for submitting the caste certificate in the advertisement. The petitioner further claims that she was declared successful in the OBC-NCL category in the preliminary examinations, result whereof was declared on 11.01.2022 and was declared qualified for Main Examination. Pursuant thereto, the petitioner appeared in the Main Examination and was declared successful in the OBC-NCL category vide result published on 05.06.2022.

3. The respondent Rajasthan High Court issued a notice dated 04.08.2022 inviting the successful candidates for interview wherein, conditions Nos. iii (a) and (b) were stipulated requiring the candidates applying in the OBC/MBC (Non Creamy Layer) category to provide a certificate issued not prior to one year from the last date of submission of the application form i.e., 31.08.2021 and alternatively in case, the certificate was issued between 31.08.2018 to 30.08.2020, an affidavit to be submitted in the prescribed format along with the caste certificate.

4. The petitioner has alleged that she possesses OBC-NCL certificates of earlier years. However, since neither any condition is stipulated in the Rules of 2010 nor was it provided in the advertisement dated 22.07.2021 that the candidates of the OBC- NCL category would be required to possess a certificate of the period as stipulated in the conditions nos. iii (a) & (b) (supra), she remained under dark and did not take steps for procuring the certificate of the stipulated time period.

5. Learned counsel Shri Deepak Nehra, representing the petitioner, vehemently and fervently contended that absence of a condition either in the Rules or in the recruitment advertisement that the candidates of the OBC-NCL category would be required to possess a certificate of previous one year or of previous three years as the case may be, and imposition of such a condition at a highly belated stage in the interview notice is totally unjust, illegal and arbitrary and hence, a direction deserves to be issued to the respondents to permit the petitioner to participate in the interview process under the OBC-NCL Category. In support of his contentions, Shri Nehra relied upon the Supreme Court Judgment in the case of Ram Kumar Gijroya vs Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board & Anr. reported in (2016) 4 SCC 754. We have given our thoughtful consideration to the submissions advanced at bar and have gone the material available on record.

6. At the outset, we may note that the concept of OBC-NCL reservation is based on the current economic status of the aspirant. As against this, the caste based reservation i.e., OBC, SC/ST is governed by birth in the particular caste. This caste status would be retained for life-time whereas the Non Creamy Layer (NCL) status is dynamic and can change every year. That is why, the State Government's notification dated 09.09.2015 governing the field mandates issuance of fresh OBC-NCL certificate every year. The State Government has issued another notificati