2024 Supreme(Online)(CAT) 299
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Item No.83/ C-4
OA No. 678/2023
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH: NEW DELHI
O.A. No. 678/2023
M.A. No.828/2023
Reserved on :03.01.2024
Pronounced on : 10.01.2024
Hon’ble Mr. Tarun Shridhar, Member (A)
Hon’ble Mrs. Pratima K. Gupta, Member (J)
1. Deven Naharwal, Appointment, Group C',
Aged About 31 Years,
S/o Sh. Raghubir Singh,
R/o C-7/5, Sector-8, Rohini,
New Delhi-110085
2. Ashish Shukla, Appointment, Group 'C',
Aged About 29 Years,
S/o Sh. A.S. Shukla,
R/o H.NO 1371/3, Vivekanand Nagar,
Bank Colony, Sultanpur, U.P-228001
3. Sailesh Mann, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 32 Years,
S/o Sh. Surender Singh Mann,
R/o 159, Bada Shiv Mandir, Alipur,
Delhi-110036
4. Kunal, Appointment, Group 'C',
Aged About 30 Years,
S/o Sh. Rajender Singh,
R/o H.NO 49, Extension-1, Nangloi,
New Delhi-110041
5. Mohit, Appointment, Group 'C',
Aged About 27 Years,
S/o Sh. Rishi Pal,
R/o H.No. 602, Prajapat Mohala, V.P.O
Nathupur Gurugram-122002
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Item No.83/ C-4
OA No. 678/2023
6. Tarun Kadyan, Appointment, Group C,
Aged About 29 Years,
S/o Sh. Chhattar Pal,
R/o H. NO 155A, Street No 6A,
Vishnu Colony, Ballabhgarh-121004
7. Arvind Pratap Singh, Appointment, Group C,
Aged About 31 Years,
S/o Sh. Amar Singh,
R/o B-215, New 266 Street No. 1/4,
Rajeev Nagar, Delhi-110093
8. Pawan Kumar Khinčhi, Appointment, Group C,
Aged About 28 Years,
S/o Sh. Budh Ram Khinchi,
R/o House No 113, Ranhola Ext.
Near Karn Vatika, Nangloi,
New Delhi 110041
9. Praveen Singh, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 35 Years,
S/o Sh. Balnir Singh,
R/o 1752/5 D/1 Naveen Nagar,
Saharanpur-247001, U.P.
10. Laxmi Kant, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 30 Years,
S/o Sh. Danoj Kumar Sharma,
R/o Care of Abhishek Sejwal Village
Adhchini, New Delhi-110017
11. Deepanshu Khatri, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 27 Years,
S/o Sh. Ved Prakash Khatri,
R/o H.No.-208 Bankner,
Narela, Delhi-110040
12. Vishal, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 27 Years,
S/o Sh. Ram Kumar,
R/o House No 140 Village Katlupur,
V.P.O Nahri, District Sonipat,
Haryana 131103
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Item No.83/ C-4
OA No. 678/2023
13. Puneet Rana, Appointment, Group 'C‟,
Aged About 31 Years,
S/o Sh. Krishan,
R/o H.No. 452, Rana Pana,
V.P.O Qutabgarh,
New Delhi 110039
14. Vijay Singh Munda, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 29 years,
S/o Sh. Ghasi Ram Singh Munda,
R/o Qtr. No. 5, Police Colony,
A-3 Block, Paschim Vihar,
New Delhi-110063
15. Sanket, Appointment, Group 'C,
Aged About 26 Years,
S/o Sh. Suresh Kumar,
R/o Village Dohki, Distt. Bhiwani,
Haryana-127021
...Applicants
(By Advocate : Shri M.K. Bhardwaj)
Versus
1. Govt. of NCT of Delhi,
through its Chief Secretary,
I.P. Estate, New Secretariat,
New Delhi
2. The Divisional Commissioner,
Department of Revenue,
5. Sham Nath Marg, Civil Lines,
Delhi
3. Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board,
through its Chairman,
FC-18, Institutional Area,
Karkardooma, Delhi.
(By Advocate : Shri Amit Anand )
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Item No.83/ C-4
OA No. 678/2023
By Hon’ble Mrs. Pratima K. Gupta, Member (J):-
The applicants, 15 in number, applied to the post of
Patwari, in response to an Advertisement No.3/13 dated
12.09.2013 issued by the respondents, Govt. of NCT of
Delhi. However, the said advertisement was cancelled
vide Notice dated 09.02.2015. After amending the RRs,
the vacancies for the same post i.e. Patwari were re-
advertised vide Advertisement No.02/17. The applicants
since being eligible, applied for the same. After clearing
different stages of selection, in the final result the
applicants roll numbers found place in the final result
notice dated 31.12.2019 and supplementary result was
declared on 29.06.2020. Offer of appointments were
also sent to the applicants during November, 2020 to
October, 2021 and they were called for documents
verification. Being successful in documents verification,
they were called for Medical Examination. All the
applicants were subjected to Medical examination and
their fitness reports were received by the respondents
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on 15.06.2022. However, the respondent No.2 instead
of issuing appointment letters to the applicants,
appointed the other candidates possessing the lesser
merit in an arbitrary manner. Aggrieved by the same,
the
applicants
preferred
various
representations
followed by reminders, including the latest one dated
05.07.2021 that turned into a futile exercise as there
was no response to the representations. Accordingly,
the applicants No.1to13 approached this Tribunal in OA
No.3642/2022. During the pendency of the said OA,
the
respondents
issued
order
dated
03.02.2023,
cancelling the candidature of the applicants in complete
violation of the principles of natural justice, on the
ground that the applicants do not fulfill the criteria of
essential qualification i.e. one year diploma course in
computer from Govt. recognized institution. In view of
the developments, during the pendency of the OA
No.3642/2022, the applicants withdrew the said OA on
22.02.2023 with liberty to them to file a fresh OA,
challenging the order dated 03.02.2023. Hence, the
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instant OA has been filed by the applicants, ventilating
their grievances, seeking the following relief(s) :-
“i)
To quash and set aside the
impugned orders dated 03.02.2023 (A-1
Colly) and direct the respondents to
appoint the applicants as Patwari as per
their merit and offer of appointment with
all
consequential
benefits
including
arrears of pay and seniority etc. from the
date of appointment of similarly placed
persons appointed and posted vide order
dated 03.06.2022.
ii) To declare that action of respondents in
delaying the appointment of applicants to
the post of Patwari as illegal and arbitrary
and
issue
appropriate
directions
for
appointment of applicants to the said post
of Patwari with all consequential benefits
including arrears of pay.
iii)To declare the action of respondents in
not appointing the applicants to the post
of Patwai by accepting their qualification
of B.Tech. (IT) (ECE & Computer Science)
as well as BCA/MCA etc. as valid by
following the same analogy as followed in
case of similarly placed persons appointed
as Patwari and posted vide order dated
03.06.2022 as well as 31.05.2022 as
illegal and direct the respondents to
appoint the applicants to the post of
Patwari by treating them eligible for the
said post on the basis of qualification
possessed by the applicants.
iv) To allow the OA with exemplary cost.
v) Any other orders may also be passed as
this Hon‟ble Tribunal may deem fit and
proper
in
the
existing
facts
and
circumstances of the case.”
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2.
The grounds urged by the learned counsel for the
applicants in support of the claim of the applicants are:
(i)
The candidature of the applicants has been
cancelled for want of essential qualification i.e. one
year diploma course in computer education from
Government recognized institute. He submits that
as there was no Govt. recognized institution that
provides one year of diploma, the applicants could
not