A late-produced caste certificate cannot be accepted for eligibility if rules specify a cut-off date for submission, highlighting strict compliance with recruitment criteria.

JUDGMENT :

SRI ANANDA SEN, J.

1. Heard the parties.

2. The petitioner in this writ petition prays for an issuance of appropriate direction in the nature of certiorari to quash the letter dated 08.01.2019 (as it relates to the petitioner, annexure 6) by which the application for recruitment of the petitioner to the post of Trained Graduate Teacher has been rejected pursuant to advertisement no. 21/2016. The petitioner further prays for a mandamus directing the respondents to consider an appointment for the post of Trained Graduate Teacher after setting aside the reasons of rejection dated 08.01.2019.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that vide annexure 6, the petitioner was asked to furnish the caste certificate. In compliance with the aforesaid letter, the petitioner furnished the caste certificate within the time which was mentioned in Annexure 6 but the case of the petitioner was not considered and was rejected as a result of which the petitioner was treated to be an unreserved candidate. He further submits that when the caste certificate was already produced before the J.S.S.C., even beyond the cut-off date, the same could not have been rejected.

4. Mr. Sanjay Piprawall, learned counsel for the J.S.S.C. submits that the petitioner was treated to be an unreserved candidate as the petitioner failed to furnish the caste certificate within the cut-off date, i.e., 25.04.2017. Thereafter, the petitioner submitted the caste certificate, issued by the Appropriate Authority, but admittedly the same was issued after the cut-off date.

5. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, I find that the facts are admitted in this case. The petitioner applied for the post of Trained Graduate Teacher pursuant to advertisement no. 21/2016. The last date for submitting all the documents including the caste certificate was 25.04.2017. The petitioner admittedly, did not submit the caste certificate within aforesaid date and the petitioner is treated as unreserved candidate which is apparent from Annexure 6. Though the show cause was issued to the petitioner but according to me, it was only for the purpose as to why not he or she should be treated as a candidate in the General Category.

6. The Full Bench of this Court in the case of Dr. Nutan Indwar @Nutan Indwar vs. State of Jharkhand and Others and analogous cases in LPA No 64 of 2020 has clearly dealt with this issue and has held that the judgment of Ram Kumar Gijroya versus Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board & Another reported in (2016) 4 SCC 754 cannot be applied irrespective of the fact, nor it can be applied if the Caste Certificate is not produced on or before the cut-off date.

The Full Bench of this Court also took into consideration the judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of Divya versus Union of India and Others reported in (2024) 1 SCC 448 wherein it has been held that if there are relevant rules which prescribe the date on which the eligibility should be possessed, those rules will prevail. In the absence of rules or any other date prescribed in the prospectus/ advertisement for determining the eligibility, there is a judicial chorus holding that it would be the last date for submission of the application.

It has also been held by the Full Bench that Caste Certificate should be in a proper format. Paragraphs 42 and 49 of the aforesaid judgment is quoted hereunder:-

42. We hold that once a specific format and the authority to issue certificate has been prescribed, the same has to be followed strictly. The prescription of a format or designat