Employees of local/autonomous bodies with requisite service qualify for age relaxation under explicit advertisement clauses; experience certificates from such bodies cannot be rejected without basis, entitling consideration for appointment per merit.

ORDER 

By Hon’ble Mr. Manish Garg, Member (J)

By virtue of the present OA, the applicant is seeking the following reliefs:

“(1)That the Hon'ble Tribunal may graciously be pleased to pass an order of quashing the impugned order dated 05.05.2022(A/1) inrespect of applicant only and consequently, pass an order directing the respondents to grant the age relaxation to the applicant who is working in SDMC(now MCD) as Primary Teacher and consider the candidature of the applicant for her appointment to the post of Educational and Vocational Guidance counselor (Female) post code 36/20 with all the consequential benefits from the date of appointment of juniors and similarly situated persons including seniority and pay fixation.

(ii) Any other relief which the Hon'ble Tribunal deem fit and proper may also be granted to the applicant along with the costs of litigation.”

2. Highlighting the facts of the case, learned counsel for the applicant had drawn attention to the advertisement issued by the respondents, specifically clause 6, which reads as follows:

2.1 Learned counsel for the applicant further highlighted that the MCD has been declared a local or autonomous body in terms of the order passed in WP(C) No. 1738/2019, titled Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board and Anr. vs. Seema Kapoor. He had drawn a distinction to the fact that in Seema Kapoor (Supra), the Apex Court dealt with the advertisement's clause 3, which read as follows:

“2.The respondent is serving as Teacher (Primary) in South Delhi Municipal Corporation since 7.4.2006. The appellant invited applications for various posts including the post of PGT (English) Female, Post Code No. 133/2012, vide Advertisement No. 2/2012. The age limit as per the advertisement in respect of the post for which the respondent was an applicant reads thus:

"Age Limit: Below 36 years & relaxable in case of Govt. Servant and departmental candidates upto 05 years in accordance with the instructions or orders issued by the Central Government. This post is identified, as suitable for OH/VH persons only as per the Requisition of the User Department."

2.2 In that case, there was no stipulation regarding the coverage of the term "local or autonomous body." He emphasized that, in the present case, the advertisement explicitly contemplates grant of age relaxation to be extended to a candidate of a local or autonomous body. He further relied upon the decision rendered by the Tribunal in OA No. 632/2019, titled Virender vs. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and Ors.

3. Opposing the grant of relief, the learned counsel for the respondents stated that the MCD is not an autonomous body within the meaning or ambit of the advertisement clause. It is a body created by statute, and therefore, no benefit of age relaxation can be accorded, relying on the decision in Seema Kapoor (Supra).

3.1 It is undisputed that the candidature of the applicant was rejected by a rejection notice, which reads as follows:

“The candidature of the applicant was rejected by the DSSSB vide rejection notice dated 05.05.2022 on the ground that she is overage as the candidate is overage by 02 months, 09 days even after giving relaxation in age under OBC category. The candidate has however, uploaded experience certificate as DCF category from SDMC & KV. The experience certificate uploaded by the candidate from SDMC & KV are not applicable as per DoPT guidelines/Delhi Govt. Instructions. Accordingly, dossier of the applicant was not received by the Directorate of Education via DSSSB. The role of the answering respondent is limited to appointment of candidates only after the dossiers are received by the Directorate of Education from DSSSB.”

3.2 A distinction was also sought to be drawn by the learned counsel for the respondents, particularly with reference to the decision in UPSC vs. Dr. Jamuna Kurup & Ors, by the Hon'ble Supreme