Employers can prescribe qualifications for recruitment but cannot arbitrarily exclude valid certificates, particularly those recognized by law.

JUDGMENT :

Hon'ble J.J. Munir, J.

1. This writ petition has been preferred by Raj Bhardwaj, a disqualified candidate for the post of a Technician Grade-II (Fitter), who applied for the said post in response to advertisement No. U-37/UPRVUSA/2019 issued by the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Sewa Ayog, Lucknow (for short, 'the Service Commission'). He questions an office order dated 16.01.2014 issued by the Service Commission to the extent it excludes from consideration candidates, who have earned their High School Certificate or equivalent qualification from the National Institute of Open Schooling (for short, 'NIOS'). The petitioner further prays that a mandamus be issued to the Service Commission to treat the petitioner a duly qualified candidate for the post of Technician Grade-II (Fitter), without objection to his High School Certificate being one earned from the NIOS. The petitioner also prays for a mandamus, commanding the respondents to appoint him on the post of Technician Grade-II (Fitter) on the basis of selection held pursuant to Advertisement No. U-37/UPRVUSA/2019, within a period to be stipulated by this Court.

2. The facts giving rise to this petition are these:

An advertisement bearing No. U-37/UPRVUSA/2019 was issued by the Service Commission, inviting applications for various categories of Group-C and Group-D posts in the Establishment. The Service Commission advertised, amongst others, post of Technician Grade-II (Fitter). According to the petitioner's case, the qualifications advertised in the advertisement for the post of Technician Grade-II (Fitter) (for short, 'the post in question') are as follows:

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3. The petitioner says that he belongs to the unreserved category and is qualified for the post in question. He was eligible to apply. The petitioner has passed his Secondary School Certificate Examination, earning that certificate from the NIOS with Science and Mathematics as his subjects. He also holds a National Trade Certificate in the Fitter's Trade. Apart from these, the petitioner also holds a Course on Computer Concepts Certificate (for short, 'CCC Certificate') awarded by the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (for short, 'the NIELIT'). The petitioner applied for the post in question, appending copies of his mark-sheets and certificates. The petitioner's application, being found in order, he was allotted Roll No. 11412010252. He was issued with an Admit Card for participating in the Computer Based Test. The Computer Based Test was held on 05.04.2021. The petitioner appeared in the said Test from an Examination Centre at Ghaziabad. The result of the Computer Based Test, declared on 09.09.2021, showed the petitioner as qualified. He was, therefore, called to participate in the document verification scheduled for 18.09.2021.

The petitioner was also issued a separate call letter for participating in the document verification to be held on 18.09.2021. The petitioner says that in accordance with the notice, calling him for participation in the document verification, he appeared for the verification of his documents on the scheduled date, time and venue. At the time of verification, the Trade Certificate held by the petitioner, issued by the Industrial Training Institute (for short, ‘the ITI’) and the CCC Certificate possessed by him, granted by the NIELIT, were accepted, without objection. However, there was objection to the High School Certificate held by the petitioner on ground that the said certificate had been earned by the petitioner from the NIOS, which was a certificate granted under a system of distance learning. It rendered the