CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI O.A. No. 1146/2022 Reserved on : 30.10.2025 Pronounced on : 05.12.2025 Hon’ble Mr. Manish Garg, Member (J)

Hon’ble Dr. Anand S. Khati, Member (A)

Yattin Dutt Kaushik (Age 27 Yrs)

S/o Shri Puneet Kaushik R/o House No. 149, Gali No.5 Rajiv Colony, Narela West Delhi-110040 (Roll No. 2201077485, Selected candidate to the post of Court Clerk CHSL 10+2 Examination 2016)

.. Applicant (By Advocate: Mr. R.K. Sharma with Mr. Sandeep Bhardwaj and Mr. Abhishek Sharma)

Versus

1. Staff Selection Commission Through its Chairman Block No. 12, CGO Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi.

2. The Under Secretary, ND-II Staff Selection Commission (NR)

(Department of Personnel and Training)

Block No.12, CGO Complex Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003.

.. Respondents (By Advocate: Ms. Gauraan)

ORDER Hon’ble Dr. Anand S. Khati, Member (A)

In the present Original Application filed under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, the applicant has sought for the following relief(s):-

“I) Quash and set aside the Impugned order dated 09.04.2019 placed as Annexure A-1, vide which the candidature of the applicant has been illegally cancelled and he has been debarred from taking any examination of the commission for a period of three years from 15.01.2017.

II) Direct respondents to appoint the Applicant forthwith to the post of Court Clerk for which the applicant was selected with all consequential benefits;

III) Pass such further and other orders and directions as this Hon’ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper.”

2. Brief facts of the case as narrated by learned counsel for the applicant are as under:-

2.1 The applicant is a candidate to the post of Court Clerk towards Combined Higher Secondary Level (CHSL) - Examination 2016 held by the Staff Selection Commission (hereinafter called as “Commission”).

2.2 The selection process consisted of three Tiers, i.e. a Computer Based Written Exam (Tier-I), the Descriptive Paper (Tier-II) and Typing Test/ Skill Test (Tier-III) and the applicant participated in the Examinations. While the applicant declared qualified in the final result, he was called for document verification which was done on

13.12.2017 and had the photograph of the applicant along with signatures and thumb impression.

2.3 The applicant was provisionally selected for the post of Court Clerk in the result declared by the Commission. Thereafter, he received a letter dated 25.06.2018 informing that his nomination has been kept pending due to “Mismatch of Handwriting and/or Signature taken on various documents during different stages of examination” and directed to visit the office of the Commission within 7 days with all the documents for re-verification.

2.4 Further, before sending the dossier of the selected candidates to the User Department, the Commission undertook thorough scrutiny and verification of handwriting, signatures etc. taken during different stages of the Examination, the alleged samples of the handwriting of the applicant were requisitioned by the Commission and later same were sent to the CFSL Chandigarh for verifying the genuineness of handwriting/signatures of the applicant.

2.5 To his utter shock, the appointment/candidature of the applicant was cancelled vide order dated 09.04.2019 and he was debarred for a period of three years from the date of written exam, i.e. 15.01.2017, from appearing in future examinations. This limb of punishment awarded has already become infructuous after expiry of three years.

2.6 Learned counsel for the applicant explained that upon entering the examination centre, the applicant was required to sign in, after which officials verified the admit card and matched the photograph with the individual. The applicant’s thumb impressions were also taken and authenticated. At the start of the examination, the applicant filled in all requisite details on the answer sheet, and officials completed an attendance check by obtaining his signature on their records. During the examination,