Maintaining eligibility criteria and cut-off dates is crucial in recruitment to prevent arbitrary selection, and relaxation provisions must be explicitly reserved in rules.

JUDGMENT

ANIL KSHETARPAL, J.

1. By invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India , the Petitioner prays for issuance of the writ in the nature of certiorari to quash the Order passed on 23.07.2025 [hereinafter referred to as the ‘Impugned Order’] by the Central Administrative Tribunal [hereinafter referred to as ‘CAT’] whereby the Original Application preferred by the Petitioner came to be dismissed and the rejection of his candidature for the post of Prosecutor in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office [hereinafter referred to as ‘SFIO’] was upheld.

2. To comprehend the issues involved in the present case, the relevant facts in brief are required to be noticed. Pursuant to Advertisement No. 18/2022 issued by the Union Public Service Commission [hereinafter referred to as ‘UPSC’], inviting online recruitment applications [hereinafter referred to as ‘ORA’], inter alia for twelve posts of Prosecutor in the SFIO, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Petitioner applied for the aforesaid post. As per the Recruitment Notice, the following experience was required for applying to the post of Prosecutor:

“(B) EXPERIENCE: For Graduate in any discipline plus bachelor's degree in Law Holders:- One year experience in handling litigation & court matters/administration of Law in a Government organization OR For integrated graduate in Law (five years duration) Holders: Two years’ experience in handling litigation & court matters/administration of Law in a Government organization. DESIRABLE: (i) Additional one year experience in corporate/criminal law matters. (ii) Masters’ in Law (LL.M.) from recognized University or Institute. NOTE-I: The Qualifications are relaxable at the discretion of the Union Public Service Commission, for reasons to be recorded in writing, in the case of candidates otherwise well qualified. NOTE-II: The qualification(s) regarding experience is/are relaxable at the discretion of the Union Public Service Commission for reasons to be recorded in writing in the case of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, if at any stage of selection the Union Public Service Commission is of the opinion that sufficient number of candidates from these communities possessing the requisite experience are not likely to be available' to fill up the vacancies reserved for them.”

(Emphasis supplied

3. The last date for submitting the online application was 13.10.2022, whereas 14.10.2022 was the last date for printing the completely submitted online application. The Petitioner submitted his application, disclosing that he holds a five-year integrated degree in law. Under the advertisement, candidates holding such an integrated law degree were required to possess two years’ experience in handling litigation and court matters or administration of law in a government organisation, subject to the notes appended thereto. In the Online Recruitment Application (ORA), he disclosed experience in Willard Advisory Pvt. Ltd. for the period commencing from 01.03.2020 to 13.10.2022, i.e., up to the cut-off date of the application, claiming to have a total experience of 2 Years 7 Months 13 days. In the column of nature of duties performed, he disclosed as follows:

“Nature of Duties Performed:

Drafting and negotiating contracts with third parties to address the risks identified and levels of performance required from the third party. The agreements and contracts should include o Memorandum of Understanding o Non- Disclosure Agreement. Non- Complete Agreem