Eligibility criteria for recruitment cannot be changed mid-process unless permitted by extant rules; the introduction of a Tamil eligibility test was valid under government policy and did not violate Article 14.

ORDER :

C.V. Karthikeyan, J.

This Writ Petition has been filed in the nature of a certiorarified mandamus seeking records relating to a Corrigendum Notification bearing No.09/MRB/2020 dated 04.03.2025 issued by the second respondent, the Medical Services Recruitment Board at Chennai and to quash the same and direct the second respondent to hold the selection process for the post of Assistant Medical Officer / Lecturer Grade-II (Yoga and Naturopathy) in the same manner as it would have been held on the dates of the notification.

2. In the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition it had been contended by the petitioner that she had completed the BNYS course in the year 2020 and later, on the basis of the notification dated 14.08.2020 issued by the second respondent inviting applications through online mode till 10.09.2020 for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Medical Officer / Lecturer Grade-II (Yoga and Naturopathy) and the subsequent notification again dated 26.10.2021 issued by the second respondent whereby the last date for submission of application for the aforementioned post was given as 10.11.2021, she had applied for the said post on 10.11.2021. There being no further progress on and from the date of issuance of the first notification dated 14.08.2020, or from the date of issuance of second notification dated 26.10.2021, owing to various writ petitions being filed questioning the notification itself, and seeking appointment of the writ petitioners therein. The matters were pending before this Court and finally, an order had been passed on 17.04.2024 by a Division Bench of this Court, wherein an interim order had already been granted that no appointment should be made consequent to the notification was modified. This was interpreted by the respondents to indicate that the selection process could go on. Accordingly, in pursuance of the notification, a written examination is now scheduled to be held on 23.03.2025.

3. On 04.03.2025, the second respondent had issued a corrigendum, which is now impugned in the writ petition, wherein, they had introduced a partial modification to the notifications dated 14.08.2020 and 26.10.2021 and had introduced a Tamil language th eligibility test to the level of 10 standard for a duration of one hour with maximum marks 50 and with minimum qualifying mark as 40% irrespective of the community to which the candidates belong to. It is to be noted that unless the candidate qualifies in this particular Tamil eligibility test, even though the candidate would be in a position to write main examination, the answer sheet in the main examination would not be evaluated. Questioning this particular corrigendum, the present Writ Petition has been filed.

4. It is contended by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the introduction of this particular condition that the candidates should also qualify in the Tamil Eligibility Test, has changed the Rules of the game and is violative of Section 21(A) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servants (Conditions of Service) Act, 2016. It had been further contended that the petitioner is otherwise eligible so far as her educational qualifications are concerned, but she is deeply aggrieved by the introduction of this particular condition to write Tamil eligibility test. But in the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the second respondent, the Medical Services Recruitment Board, it had been stated that G.O. (Ms) No.208, Health and Family Welfare (C2) Department, dated 11.07.2022 had been introduced adopting the stipulation by the Government that Tamil eligibility test should be made as the basis for further examination of scrutiny of the eligibility of the candidates and it had been contended that in G.O. (Ms) No.208 it had been stated that in future examinations, there would be a stipulation that the candidates should quality with Tamil eligibility test. In order to examine this particular issue it is required to examine the policy of the Government by whic