The main legal point established in the judgment is that the date of the decree obtained under Section 13 B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 is crucial in determining the divorcee status for specific purposes such as recruitment.

JUDGMENT

1. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner aggrieved against rejection of her candidature as divorcee for recruitment to the post of Teacher Grade III (Level-I) for TSP area.

2. It is inter-alia claimed that the petitioner and her husband mutually agreed to dissolve the marriage by agreement dated 17.09.2020 (Annex.5) and pursuant to the advertisement dated 31.12.2021, the petitioner applied for the post of Teacher Grade III (Level-I) claiming her status as divorcee. However, her candidature has been rejected vide Annex.6 inter-alia on the ground that her decree of divorce is dated 21.03.2022, which is after the last date of application.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner made submissions that as the parties had dissolved their marriage by way of customary divorce by executing an agreement on 17.09.2020 (Annex.5), the respondents, were not justified in referring to the decree dated 21.03.2022 and as on the date of application/last date of application, the petitioner was a divorcee, her candidature on that count could not have been rejected by the respondents.

4. Submissions have been made that the decree dated 21.03.2022 has been obtained by the petitioner by filing application for mutual divorce on 09.03.2021 i.e. well before the advertisement was issued on 31.12.2021 and, therefore, merely on account of the fact that the decree has been granted on 21.03.2022, it cannot be said that the petitioner on the last date of filing of the application was not a divorcee and as such, the rejection of her candidature is not justified.

5. I have considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the petitioner and have perused the material available on record.

6. The advertisement dated 31.12.2021, inter-alia provided the following clarification pertaining to the women candidates:-

fo/kok vkosnd gksus dh fLFkfr esa l{ke izkf/kdkjh }kjk tkjh ifr dh e'R;q dk izek.k&i= ,oa ifjR;drk efgyk fookg&fofPNu vkosnd gksus dh fLFkfr esa l{ke U;k;ky; }kjk tkjh fookg&foPNsn dh fMØh@vkns"k bl HkrhZ esa vkWuykbZu vkosnu dh vfUre frfFk ls iwoZ dk gksuk vfuok;Z gSA

7. The indications made in the advertisement were specific that for claiming the benefit of a divorce, the candidate was required to produce a decree of the competent Court, which must be before the last date of filing of the application.

8. The submissions made by learned counsel for the petitioner that as the petitioner has entered into a customary divorce with her husband on 17.09.2020 (Annex.5) in view of the material available on record, cannot be accepted.

9. Admittedly, the petitioner has filed the application under Section 13 B of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 ('the Act of 1955') on 09.03.2021. A bare perusal of the judgment passed by the Family Court No.1, Jodhpur indicates that she has indicated her status as Mamta Baliyan D/o Harman Ram W/o Sh. Deepak Singh Chouhan, i.e. as on 09.03.2021, she was still married to Sh. Deepak Singh.

10. The very fact that the application has been filed under Section 13 B of the Act of 1955 presupposes that the parties were in subsisting marriage as the provisions of Section 13 B of the Act specifically provides that the petition for dissolution of marriage by decree of divorce may be presented to the Court by 'both the parties to a marriage together' and, therefore, it is apparent that on the date when the petitioner alongwith Deepak Singh Chouhan filed the petition i.e. on 09.03.2021 their marriage was subsisting.

11. Further the Family Court based on the petition filed under Section 13 B of the Act, has passed the following order:-

6- vr% izkFkhZx.k nhidflag ,oa eerk ckfy;ku dk

izkFkZuk&i= vUrxZr /kkjk 13 ch fgUnw fookg vf/kfu;e 1955 Lohdkj fd;k tkdj izkFkhZx.k nhidflag ,oa eerk ckfy;ku ds e/; lEiUu gq;s fookg fnukad 23-05-2018 dks mudh ikjLifjd lgefr ds vk/kkj ij rRdky izHkko ls fo?kfVr fd;k tkrk gSA fu.kZ; vuqlkj fMØh ipkZ eqfrZc fd;k tkosA fMØh dh ,d&,d lR; izfr izkFkhZx.k dks fu%"kqYd iznku dh tkosA (emphasis added)

12. A perusal of th