Point of Law : Eligibility of a candidate is to be reckoned on the fixed date indicated in the advertisement/notification inviting applications.

JUDGMENT :

1. These Intra Court Appeals have been filed questioning the legality, propriety and correctness of the order dated 08.04.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ-A No.4533 of 2022 (Devendra Pal Singh and 16 others Vs. State of U.P. and 2 others) whereby and whereunder the prayer No. (iii) and (iv) made in the writ petition have been allowed qua the Petitioner Nos.4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 & 17 and directions have been issued permitting them to appear in the examination after due verification of their Course on Computer Concepts Certificate (hereinafter referred to as 'CCC Certificate'). The writ petition has been dismissed qua the writ petitioners No. 1, 2, 3, 7, 13 & 14 with liberty to file a fresh writ petition. The writ petition has been further directed to be heard finally on the following question framed :-

"11. In view of this interim order, the prayers no.(iii) and (iv) are allowed and the matter will be heard finally on following issues :-

"Whether considering that addition of a new eligibility qualification by way of amendment (in present case, CCC Certificate), a course of minimum three months in order to participate in a competitive examination for Class IV employees of the High Court for the posts in the cadre of Computer Assistant, requirement to posses all the qualifications including the amended qualification before the date of advertisement could be relaxed up to the date of examination due to the short time-line that amendment was carried out on 13.3.2021, date of advertisement was 28.9.2021 and the examination is scheduled on 10.4.2022 ?"

2. The issue before the learned Single Judge pertains to the recruitment to the 17 posts of Computer Assistant in the Establishment of the High Court by way of promotion by holding a Departmental Examination from amongst eligible Class IV Employees working in the High Court Establishment. The Notice dated 28.09.2021 was issued for inviting applications from Class IV employees who have completed 5 years continuous satisfactory service as on 01.07.2021 and possess the minimum educational qualification as prescribed under the Rules. The relevant Rules which govern the recruitment are "the Allahabad High Court Officers and Staff (Conditions of Service and Conduct) Rules, 1976". The Clause (ii) of Rule 8(a)(i) of the 1976 Rules existing at the time of issuance of the Recruitment Notice is reproduced hereunder:-

"(ii) 40% by promotion on merit through competitive examination from Class IV employees who have completed five years continuous satisfactory service as on 01st July of the year of recruitment and possesses the minimum educational qualification of intermediate along with CCC Certificate/Diploma/Degree in Computer Science from recognized institute established by law in India."

3. The cut off date for submitting the application forms was 19.10.2021. A total of 135 Class-IV candidates are stated to have applied for the Departmental Examination-2021 to be held for the purpose of the aforesaid Recruitment. The application forms of 114 candidates were rejected on the ground that they did not satisfy the condition stipulated in Rule 8(a)(i)(ii) of the 1976 Rules inasmuch as they did not possess the minimum educational qualification of Intermediate along with CCC Certificate/Diploma/Degree of Computer Science from recognized institute established by law in India. Accordingly, vide Notice dated 16th March, 2022 the Registrar (J) (S & A/Establishment) informed the eligible 21 Class-IV candidates of the High Court, Allahabad/Lucknow Bench that the Departmental Examination for promotion of Class-IV employees to the post of Computer Assistant is scheduled to be conducted on 10.04.2022 at 11:00 AM in the High Court Premises. The notice also informed that the application forms of the rest of the 114 Class-IV candidates who had applied for the Departmental Examination-2021 for the post of Computer Assistant had been rejected.

4. A set of 17 candidates, whose applicat