Strict compliance with eligibility criteria and submission deadlines is critical for reservation categories; late submissions invalidate claims for benefits.

ORDER

Per: Justice Ranjit More, Chairman -

By filing the present Original Application, the applicant has challenged Notice No. 293/2025 dated 02.08.2025 and the communication dated 04.08.2025, whereby his candidature has been directed to be considered under the Unreserved (UR) category instead of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category for the Senior Resident/Senior Demonstrator Common Eligibility Test (SRD-CET), July 2025 session.

2. Respondent No.1 issued an advertisement dated 27.06.2025 for conducting the Senior Resident/Senior Demonstrator Common Eligibility Test (SRD-CET), July 2025 session. As per the said advertisement, the last date for submission of applications was 11.07.2025. The applicant applied under the EWS category on 04.07.2025 and submitted two previously issued EWS certificates along with an acknowledgement slip dated 03.07.2025 indicating that he had applied for a fresh EWS certificate. The fresh EWS certificate was ultimately issued on 31.07.2025. It is, however, admitted that the applicant could not upload the fresh EWS certificate before the closing date of application i.e. 11.07.2025. Therefore, the respondents issued the impugned communications directing that the applicant’s candidature be considered under the UR category instead of the EWS category.

3. Mr. Tyagi, learned counsel for the applicant, submits that the applicant applied for the fresh EWS certificate pursuant to the issuance of the advertisement and that the Government of NCT of Delhi typically takes about 30 days to issue such certificates. He drew our attention to the advertisement dated 27.06.2025, particularly Section VII regarding certificates, and submitted that in the case of OBC candidates who did not possess a Non-Creamy Layer certificate valid for the financial year 2025-26 at the time of application, they were allowed to upload the previous OBC-NCL certificate along with an acknowledgement slip of the fresh certificate, and were also permitted to submit/upload the valid certificate for the financial year 2025-26 when asked to do so. Mr. Tyagi fairly admits that no such concession was given to EWS candidates. However, he relies upon the decision of the learned Single Judge of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Ravi Kumar v. All India Institute of Medical Sciences , 2024 SCC OnLine Del 6737, and submits that the applicant's EWS certificate dated 31.07.2025, though issued subsequent to the closing date of the application, ought to have been considered as a valid EWS certificate, and therefore, the impugned communications directing consideration of the applicant’s candidature under the UR category are illegal.

4. Mr. Anand Varma, learned counsel for AIIMS, and Mr. Manoj Sinha, learned counsel for Dr. Savi, who is impleaded as private respondent no. 2, contested the petition vehemently. They submitted that the law regarding the validity of the cut-off date is no longer res integra and is settled by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Divya v. Union of India , (2024) 1 SCC 448 . They also submitted that the applicant did not submit the EWS certificate before the closing date of the advertisement i.e. 11.07.2025, and therefore, his candidature was rightly considered under the UR category.

Inviting our attention to the advertisement dated 27.06.2025, particularly Section VII, they submitted that in the absence of any challenge to the advertisement or to the Office Memoranda of the Government of India prescribing the criteria for submission of the EWS certificate, the applicant is not entitled to any relief.

4.1 Mr. Varma, further submitted that at least four candidates submitted their EWS certificates before the closing date of the