Higher qualification like B.Ed. (Special Education) not equivalent to prescribed 2-year Diploma unless expressly declared; eligibility strictly per Recruitment Rules as on cut-off date; courts cannot determine equivalence or rewrite rules.

O R D E R

Hon’ble Mr. Rajinder Kashyap, Member (A):

By filing the present OA filed under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985, seeking the following reliefs:-

I) Quash and set aside the Impugned Rejection Notice No. Notice No.1400 dated 01.07.2022 qua the applicant placed as Annexure A-1 (Applicant No.1 at Sl. No. 176 and Applicant No. 2 at Sl. No. 106), vide which the candidature of the applicants have been illegally cancelled/ rejected in-spite of being shortlisted after the written examination.

II) Direct respondents to complete the process of selection and appoint the Applicants forthwith to the post of Special Educator (Primary) Post Code 32/21 under respective categories for which the applicant were shortlisted with all consequential benefits;

III) Pass such further and other orders and directions as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper.

FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The facts, as stated by the applicant, are :

2.1 The applicants had applied for the post of Special Educator (Primary), Post Code 32/21 under respective category i.e., applicant No.1 in EWS category and applicant No.2 in SC category vide advertisement No.01/2021 (Annexure A-3) where the closing dated for applying was 14.04.2021.

2.2 The applicants were issued the Roll Nos. i.e., Applicant No.1 was issued Roll No. 412032100644 and Applicant No. 2 was issued Roll No. 324032100114 and both appeared in the written examination, which was held on 17.10.2021. The Applicant No.1 scored 88.78 marks and Applicant No.2 scored 88.32 marks and were declared shortlisted for the post code No.32/21 vide notification dated 05.01.2022 in their respective category. It is stated that Applicant No.2 has scored more than the cut-off in her category [Annexure A-4 (Colly)].

2.3 Thereafter all the successful candidates were directed to upload their e-dossier and upload their documents such as Educational Qualification, Professional Experience, Marks Sheet, Caste Certificate, admit card etc. vide Notification No. 1337 dated 05.01.2022 in the e- dossier link activated on OARS Module with effect from 13.01.2022 to 27.01.2022. The applicants as per the directions of the Board uploaded the documents as desired.

2.4 The applicants successfully uploaded all the documents, including all the educational qualifications and Caste/ EWS certificate along with the e-dossier within the window period of 13.01.2022 to 27.01.2022.

2.5 It is stated that the Applicant No. 1 is in possession of Diploma in Education from Board of Secondary Education, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in Special Education from Chaudhary Ranbir Singh University, Jind which is duly certified by the RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India) vide CRR No. A70254 for the Degree of Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in Special Education, Learning Disability and Applicant No. 2 is also holder of Diploma in Education from Board of School Education, Haryana and Bachelor of Education, Special Education (Mental Retardation) from Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak duly approved by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI).

2.6 Thereafter, the Board had given deficient notice as 1st Recall Notice no.1384 dated 26.05.2022 and 2nd Recall Notices 1389 dated 14.06.2022 [Annexure A-5 (Colly)] to upload deficient documents through e-dossier module. The applicants had submitted the documents each time, they were asked to do so.

2.7 On 01.07.2022, vide impugned Notice No.1400 (Annexure A- 1), which was uploaded on the