IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

204 CWP-19030-2015 Date of Decision: January 16, 2026 Rajan Choudhary ....Petitioner VERSUS State of Punjab and others ...Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARPREET SINGH BRAR Present : Mr. KS Dadwal with Mr. Naresh Kumar, Advocates for the petitioner.

Mr. Vikas Arora, DAG, Punjab.

Mr. Anil Sharma with Ms. Devyani Sharma, Advocates for respondents No.2 and 3.

Mr. Gaurav Chopra, Sr. Advocate with Ms. Seerat Saldi, Advocate for respondent No.4.

HARPREET SINGH BRAR, J. (Oral)

1. The present petition has been filed under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of certiorari for quashing the letter dated 21.08.2015 passed by respondent No.3 (Annexure P-9) whereby the claim of petitioner for appointment to the post of Manager (Human Resources) has been rejected. Further praying for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to issue appointment letter to the petitioner for the post of Manager (Human Resources) keeping in view her merit.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner, inter alia, contends that the petitioner has obtained a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, and a Master of Business Administration (Hospital Management) degree in the year 2014 from Panjab University, Chandigarh, with specialization in Human Resources Management. The petitioner is a gold medalist of Panjab University in MBA. Besides this, she has also cleared the National Eligibility Test for the post of Assistant Professor (HR), held on 29.06.2014. The petitioner applied for the post of Manager (HR) pursuant to the advertisement dated 27.08.2014 (Annexure P-2), wherein the essential qualification prescribed was MBA (HR)/Administration with at least 50% marks from a recognized university. Thereafter, the petitioner qualified for the said post by securing

74 marks and stood first in the merit list, as is evident from Annexure P-3.

3. Despite being the most meritorious candidate, she was not offered appointment. Upon enquiry from the office of respondent No.2, it was informed that the petitioner was allegedly not eligible for the said post on the ground that the essential qualification required was MBA (Human Resources/Administration). The petitioner, however, obtained her provisional certificate of MBA (Hospital Management) with specialization in Human Resource Management on 03.07.2015 (Annexure P-4), which clearly demonstrates that she fulfills the essential qualification as prescribed in the advertisement. Learned counsel further refers to the detailed syllabi of both MBA (Hospital Management) and MBA (HR) (Annexures P-5 & P-6), and a comparative chart (Annexures P-7 & P-8), demonstrating that the petitioner had studied all core subjects of Human Resources Management

4. It is submitted that despite submitting all relevant documents, the Deputy General Manager (HR), Respondent No. 3, passed the impugned order dated 21.08.2015 (Annexure P-9), who was not competent to reject the petitioner’s candidature. Relying on the Standing Orders dated 13.11.2007 and 05.06.2017 (Annexures P-12 & P-13), it is argued that appointment matters for Group 'B' posts, such as Manager (HR), fall exclusively within the purview of the Principal Secretary, Department of Food & Civil Supplies. Learned counsel further submits that respondent No.4, who does not possess the requisite essential qualifications, has been illegally appointed by completely ignoring the rightful claim of the petitioner.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner placed reliance on the judgment passed by Hon’ble Supreme Court in Mathura Prasad Vs. Union of India and others, 2007 AIR (SC) 381 regarding the passing of an order by authority who is not competent, and judgments passed by this Court in CWP-1302-2019 titled as ‘Manoj Kumar Versus Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’, decided on 16.03.2021, wherein the Divisi