JUDGMENT :

Sujit Narayan Prasad, J.:

The instant appeal, under clause 10 of the Letters Patent, is directed against judgment/order dated 30.06.2020 passed by learned Single Judge in W.P. (S) No. 5131 of 2018, by which the writ petition has been dismissed declining to pass positive direction in favour of writ petitioners for conducting interview of the petitioners for the post of Food Safety Officer and declare their results and further accept the petitioners” degree in Masters as valid for appointment to the post of Food Safety Officer.

2. Brief facts of the case, as per the pleading made in the writ petition, read as under:

3. The Jharkhand Public Service Commission, herein after referred to as the “JPSC”, has come out with an advertisement being Advertisement No. 01/2016, inviting On-line applications for filling up 24 posts of Food Safety Officers in the Department of Health, Medical Education & Family Welfare, Govt. of Jharkhand. Clause 5 of the said advertisement, which is relevant to adjudicate the lis, speaks about the essential educational qualification and eligibility, which reads as under:

“A Degree in Food Technology or Dairy Technology or Biotechnology or Oil Technology or Agriculture Science or Veterinary Sciences or Bio-chemistry or Microbiology or Master Degree in Chemistry or Degree in Medicine from a Recognized University.”

4. Petitioner Nos. 1, 3 and 4 have completed their bachelor degree in “Science” whereas petitioner no. 2 competed his bachelor degree in “Pharmacy”. After that the petitioner No. 1 and Petitioner No. 3 completed their post-graduation and awarded “Master degree in ‘Food Science and Technology’; whereas Petitioner No. 2 and Petitioner No. 4 completed the post-graduation degree and awarded i.e., “Master degree in “Microbiology”.

5. With the above educational qualification, the petitioners applied for the said post through on-line mode and were allowed to participate in the process of selection. They were declared successful in the written examination and were called for interview. But the petitioners were denied to undergo interview stating that since Petitioner No. 1 and Petitioner No. 3 hold “Master degree in “Food Science and Technology”; and further Petitioner No. 2 and Petitioner No. 4 holds “Master degree in “Microbiology”, as such they are not eligible to be considered for selection on the post in question.

6. Aggrieved thereof, the petitioners approached this Court by invoking writ jurisdiction of this Court conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, by filing writ petition being W.P. (S) No. 5131 of 2018, which was dismissed vide order dated 30.06.2020, declining to pass any positive direction, against which the instant intra-court appeal has been filed.

7. Mrs. Ritu Kumar, learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that the Rules, basis upon which the advertisement has been issued, is “Jharkhand Food Safety and Standards Rules, 2011” [2011] [hereinafter referred to as “Rules, 2011”). Rule 2.1.3 thereof provides eligibility criteria for the post of Food Safety Officer as ‘Post Gradation Degree/Master Degree’ in Food Technology of Microbiology among other degrees, which the petitioners are possessing.

8. For ready reference, Rule 2.1.3 of Rules, 2011 is quoted as under:

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