JUDGMENT

Rajbir Sehrawat, J. (Oral). - CM Nos.238-CWP and 239-CWP of 2021

1. Applications are allowed as prayed for.

2. Written statement filed on behalf of respondent No.2 is taken on record.

Main Case

3. Petitioner has filed this petition under article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for setting aside the impugned order dated 08.12.2020 (Annexure P-5) whereby the candidature of the petitioner for 55th Short Service Commission (Technical) (October 2020) has been cancelled, with a further prayer that the respondents No.1 & 2 be directed to depute the petitioner for training of the above said batch.

4. The brief facts as given in the writ petition are that the recruiting respondents No.1 and 2 advertised vacancies for recruitment of Commissioned Officers in Group A in Indian Army through Short Service Commission (Technical). The advertisement to this effect was issued, which is attached as Annexure P-l with the present petition. As per the advertisement the applications were invited through online mode. The petitioner is having a degree in 'Electronics Communication Systems Engineering'. There were 21 vacancies for this stream of Engineering in the above-said recruitment process. Considering himself to be eligible for the said post, the petitioner applied pursuant to the said advertisement. The petitioner participated in the process of selection through the process conducted by Service Selection Board. The Service Selection Board had found the petitioner suitable and had recommended the name of the petitioner for Commission Training. However, subsequently the Directorate General of Recruiting (TGC Entry) intimated the petitioner vide his letter dated 08.12.2020 that since the petitioner was not having degree in 'Electronics and Communication Engineering', therefore, he was not eligible for the post advertised by the Directorate. It was further intimated that the petitioner had wrongly claimed the equivalence with the degrees mentioned in the equivalence column of the advertisement; because the degree of the petitioner was not mentioned even in the equivalence column, as mentioned in the advertisement itself. Accordingly, the candidature of the petitioner for the said 55th Short Service Commission (Technical) (October, 2020) was cancelled. The petitioner has challenged the said cancellation of his candidature.

5. The respondents have filed their written statement wherein they have relied upon the Instructions dated 10.02.2014, whereby the Directorate General of Recruitment had considered the aspect of the equivalence of the degrees in various streams of engineering for which the Army was making recruitment in technical branches, and have submitted that these instructions provide the streams of Engineering, the specified degrees which are required for recruitment in the said streams and also mention the equivalent degrees which are recognized by the Directorate as equivalent to the main degrees in the concerned streams. The degree of the petitioner does not find mentioned either in the column of main degrees or in the column of equivalent degrees. Hence the petitioner has rightly been declared ineligible for the said recruitment.

6. Arguing the case, learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that although the degree of the petitioner is in 'Electronics Communication Systems Engineering', however, this is only a difference of nomenclature. The syllabus for the degree of 'Electronics and Communication Engineering' and the degree of 'Electronics Communication Systems Engineering' are the same. Therefore, the All India Council for Technical Education (for short 'AICTE') which regulate the education for the recognized degrees in the technical field, has jointly mentioned the degree of 'Electronics and Communication Engineering' and the degree of 'Electronics Communication Systems Engineering' at the same entry. Accordingly, it is submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that the p