The eligibility for public employment must be judged as of the cut-off date prescribed in the recruitment advertisement; courts will not interfere with such conditions in the absence of manifest arbitrariness or mala fide, as doing so introduces uncertainty and violates the principle of equal opportunity.

1. The present writ petition has been filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India making the following prayers:-

“I. To issue writ in the nature of Certiorari for quashing Note (iii) under Clause 2 of the Eligibility Criteria contained in Advertisement No. CRA-316/26 (Annexure P-1), insofar as it prescribes the last date of online application/registration as the cut-off date for possessing the requisite educational qualifications for recruitment to the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical, being arbitrary, unreasonable, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India;

II. To issue writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent to consider the date of document verification or any other subsequent stage of the recruitment process as the cut-off date for determining possession of the requisite qualifications for recruitment to the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical pursuant to Advertisement No. CRA-316/26, instead of the last date of submission of online applications, in the interest of justice, fairness and equity;

III. To issue writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent to accept the online application and permit the petitioner to appear and participate in the recruitment examination/process for the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical pursuant to Advertisement No. CRA-316/26, subject to the condition that the petitioner shall produce proof of having passed the requisite degree/diploma course on a date subsequent to the cut-off date fixed by the respondent, including at the stage of document verification or any other stage as may be deemed appropriate by this Hon’ble Court during the pendency of the present petition;

IV. To issue writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent not to reject the candidature of the petitioner for the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical pursuant to Advertisement No. CRA-316/26 and further directing that till the next date of hearing, no coercive or precipitative steps qua the candidature of the petitioner be taken by the respondent;

V. To further issue appropriate writ, order or direction directing the respondent to permit the petitioner to edit/correct her online application form or, in the alternative, to accept and consider the candidature/application of the petitioner for recruitment to the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical pursuant to Advertisement No. CRA-316/26 despite the petitioner having mentioned approximate aggregate marks obtained in the diploma course and not having selected the “Result Awaited” option in the online application form, as prescribed under the terms and conditions of the advertisement, inasmuch as the said act was bona fide and without any intention to misrepresent or conceal facts.

VI. To issue writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent to consider and decide representation dated 07.05.2026 (Annexure P-9) submitted by the petitioner by passing a reasoned and speaking order within a time bound manner and to clarify whether candidates like the petitioner, whose final result/certificate is awaited and who are yet to appear in the remaining examination(s), are eligible to apply for the post of Junior Engineer/Electrical under Note (iii) of Clause 2 of Advertisement No. CRA-316/26.”

Contentions of Petitioner

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner, inter alia, contends that the respondent-PSPCL issued Advertisement No. CRA-316/26 dated 13.04.2026 (Annexure P-1) inviting online applications for recruitment to 622 posts of Junior Engineer/Electrical. As per the terms and conditions of the advertisement, the last date for