SAKSHI ARHA v. THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT & Ors.

): In the given facts and circumstances, when the rules are silent and there is no such instruction that the certificate of the category has to be produced of the period on or before the last date of the application under the advertisement and each of the applicants has produced the certificate relating to category on being demanded by the recruiting authority when the list came to be published of the candidates who were provisionally called for interview on 04.08.2022, each of the applicants indisputedly has furnished their certificate of the category to which they belong at the time of advertisement and had participated in the process of selection – High Court had gone wrong and was influenced with the condition of eligibility to be looked into on the last date of application – Respondents directed to consider candidature of each of the appellant for appointment with consequential benefits – Held (Per Bela M. Trivedi, J.) (Dissenting) : It is no more res integra that in absence of a fixed date indicated in the advertisement inviting applications, with reference to which the requisite eligibility is to be judged, and when the rules are silent, 583 A B C D E F G H 584 A SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2023] 9 S.C.R. the only certain date for the scrutiny of the eligibility of a candidate would be the last date for making the applications – Hence, this Court found no error having been committed by the High Court while passing the impugned judgments and orders. Placing the matter before Hon'ble CJI for constitution of B appropriate Bench, the Court Per AJAY RASTOGI, J. HELD :

It is true that the general rule is that while participating in the recruitment process, the person must possess the eligibility qualification on the last date fixed for such purpose unless there is any express provision to the contrary and there can be no relaxation in the matter of holding requisite eligibility qualification by the date fixed and this has to be established by producing necessary certificate or degree, as the case may be. But, at the same time, in order to avail the benefit of reservation or weightage, necessary certificates have to be produced but they are in the nature of proof for the purpose of seeking entitlement to claim the benefit of reservation, but it has no nexus with the last date of the application and, it may not be proper to apply any rigid principle in the absence of any rule to the contrary. As a matter of caution, every infraction of the rule relating to submission of proof in availing the benefit of reservation may not necessarily result in rejection of the candidature.[Para 32][606-F-H; 607-A]

The reservation of vacancies of various categories as referred to in Rule 10 is not a condition of eligibility for the candidate to participate in the selection process as the certificate of category for the purpose of claiming reservation will arise not at the stage when the application form is filled making self- declaration by the individual candidate to participate in the selection process but at the stage when the select list is to be prepared of the candidates who have participated in the selection process since the final select list has to be published category- wise by giving the benefit of reservation to the candidates who have participated in the process of selection and for no other purpose and when the respondent has demanded from the applicant to furnish their respective certificate of the category to which one had participated in the selection process under its notice C D E F G H SAKSHI ARHA v. THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT AND OTHERS 585 dated 04th August, 2022, indisputedly each of the applicant had furnished the certificate of their category to which one belong at the time of advertisement when demanded by the recruiting authority in terms of Clause 6(i) & (iii) read with Clause 22(3) of the advertisement dated 22nd July, 2021. [Para 34][607-E-H]

That apart, taking into consideration the Scheme of Rules, 2010, which is indisputedly, silent on the subject issue and the advertisement dated 22nd July, 2021 nowhere indicates that the caste certificate/certificate of category has to be produced of the period prior to the last date of the application (31st August, 2021) in the instant case. To the contrary, Clause 6(i) & (iii) read with Clause 22(3) of the advertisement, such certificate of category which one claimed for seeking the benefit of reservation, has to be produced on demand by the recruiting authority. [Para 38][610- B-C]

In the given facts and circumstances, when the rules are silent and there is no such instruction that the certificate of the category has to be produced of the period on or before the last date of the application under the advertisement and each of the applicants has produced the certificate relating to category on being demanded by the recruiting authority when the list came to be published of the candidates who were provisionally called for interview on 04 th August, 2022, each of the applicants indisputedly has furnished their certificate of the category to which they belong at the time of advertisement and had participated in the process of selection. At this stage, the High Court had gone wrong and was influenced with the condition of eligibility to be looked into on the last date of application, while examining the production of certificate of the category to which the candidate belong and participated in the selection process is in no manner co-related with the conditions of eligibility and the judgments relied upon to non-suite the claim of the appellants has no application in the facts of the instant case. [Para 39][610-D-F]

The appeals succeed and are accordingly allowed. The impugned judgment of the High Court is hereby quashed and set A B C D E F G H 586 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2023] 9 S.C.R. A B C D E aside and the respondents are directed to consider candidature of each of the appellant for appointment with consequential benefits including seniority to the post of Civil Judge on their participation in the selection process held pursuant to advertisement dated 22nd July, 2021.[Para 43][612-C-D] Ashok Kumar Sonkar v. Union of India and Others (2007) 4 SCC 54 : [2007] 3 SCR 95; Jyoti Beniwal v. The Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur Through Its Registrar General and Another (D.B. Civil Writ Petition No.11784/2022); Rakesh Kumar Sharma v. State (NCT of Delhi) and Others (2013) 11 SCC 58; Rekha Chaturvedi (Smt.) v. University of Rajasthan and Others (1993) 3 Supp SCC 168 : [1993] 1 SCR 186; Bhupinderpal Singh and Others v.

2. Having regard to the said instructions contained in the said advertisement dated 22.07.2021, there remains no shadow of doubt that if a candidate had applied under any of the reserved categories, he or she was expected to have a valid certificate issued by the competent authority as per rules in the prescribed format, to show his or her eligibility to apply under such category. The time limit for making such application as stated in Clause 17 of the said advertisement was upto 5 PM on 31.08.2021. Under the circumstances, the candidate was expected to have the A B C D E F G H 588 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2023] 9 S.C.R. requisite certificate to show that he or she belonged to the concerned reserved category, on the date of making application or on the last date fixed for the submission of applications i.e. 31.08.2021. Such certificate to be produced by the concerned candidate had to be a valid certificate issued by the competent authority in consonance with the circulars issued by the State Government dated 09.09.2015 and as clarified in the Circular dated 08.08.2019, which governed the issue with regard to the validity of such certificates. [Para 22][630-C-E]

3. All the appellants had produced their respective certificates which were obtained by them after the last date fixed for the submission of the application i.e., 31.08.2021, and had also not produced the documents/affidavits in support thereof, in compliance with the circulars dated 09.09.2015 and 08.08.2019. Therefore, the certificates produced by the appellants at the time of interview could not said to be valid certificates as mandated in the advertisement dated 22.07.2021 by the respondents. [Para 23][630-H; 631-A]

4. It was sought to be submitted by counsel for the appellants that there was no specific date mentioned in the advertisement dated 22.07.2021 as to the validity period of the certificates to be furnished by the appellants, and subsequent notice dated 04.08.2022 directing the appellants to produce the certificates as mentioned therein was highly unreasonable, and tantamount to changing the rules of game after the process of selection had started. The Court does not find any substance in the said argument. As stated earlier, there were specific instructions given in the advertisement that the candidates applying under the reserved categories had to submit the valid certificates issued by the competent authority, and therefore such certificates had to be in consonance with the circulars of the State Government dated 09.09.2015 and 08.08.2019 which governed the validity period of such certificates.

The subsequent notice dated 04.08.2022 given by the respondent High Court requiring the candidates belonging to OBC/MBC(NCL) to produce the certificates issued not prior to one year from the last date fixed A B C D E F G H SAKSHI ARHA v. THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT AND OTHERS 589 for the submission of application form i.e., 31.08.2021, was absolutely in consonance with the said circulars issued by the State Government. It was also mentioned in the said notice dated 04.08.2022 that in case the OBC/MBC(NCL) certificate was issued between 31.08.2018 and 30.08.2020, an affidavit in prescribed format along with the caste certificate had to be produced. For the EWS category, it was stated that the Income and Asset certificate required for seeking reservation in EWS category must not have been issued prior to 01.04.2021 and in case the Income and Asset certificate was issued between 01.04.2019 and 31.03.2021, then an affidavit in the prescribed format along with the certificate had to be produced.

It was specifically mentioned therein that SC/ST/OBC/MBC/EWS certificate, as the case may be, must not have been issued after the last date of submission of the application form i.e., 31.08.2021. Such instructions requiring the reserved category candidates to produce the requisite certificates could neither be said to be unreasonable nor could be construed as changing the rules of game after selection process was started, they being in consonance with the important instructions given in the advertisement dated 22.07.2021, and in consonance with the circulars issued by the State Government with regard to the validity period of caste certificates. [Para 24][631-B-H; 632-A]

5. It is needless to say that when a candidate applies under a particular reserved category, he or she is required to have the certificate of that particular category on the date on which he or she makes the application to show his or her eligibility to apply under the said category. If such certificates are obtained subsequent to date of their application or subsequent to the last date of submission of the applications mentioned in the advertisement, such certificates could not be said to be valid certificates, more particularly in cases where the candidate applies under OBC-NCL or EWS, which category is highly dynamic and not static, as the economic status of the candidate would keep on changing depending on the income of the candidate. [Para 25][632- B-C]

It is no more res integra that in absence of a fixed date indicated in the advertisement inviting applications, with reference A B C D E F G H 590 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2023] 9 S.C.R. to which the requisite eligibility is to be judged, and when the rules are silent, the only certain date for the scrutiny of the eligibility of a candidate would be the last date for making the applications. It cannot be gain said that the date of interview or selection would always be uncertain and the uncertainty of the date may lead to an anomalous situation in as much as even those candidates who were not eligible to apply under the reserved category on the date of making application, may apply under the reserved category and subsequently obtain the certificate by the time the interviews are held. In such circumstance, the possibility of playing mischief also cannot be ruled out. In the instant case, the last date for the submission of applications was 31.08.2021 and the interviews were fixed in August 2022. So, there was a gap of one full year between the last date for submission of the applications and the date of interview, during which period the economic status and resultant status of “creamy layer/non-creamy layer/EWS” of the candidates might have also changed. Therefore, the exposition of law settled by this Court is that in absence of a fixed date indicated in the advertisement, and when the rules are also silent, the last date fixed for submitting the applications would be the date for the scrutiny of the eligibility of the candidates. [Para 29][633-F-H; 634-A-B]

It is also pertinent to note that if the appellants were allowed to produce the certificates issued after the last date fixed for the submission of applications mentioned in the advertisement i.e. 31.08.2021, the other candidates similarly situated as the appellants might raise a grievance for not giving them such opportunity. The appellants who are the defaulters could not be given preferential treatment by accepting the certificates produced by them as valid, though the same were obtained by them after the last date for the submission of applications fixed in the advertisement. The said certificates were also not supported by the requisite affidavits as per the Government circulars dated 09.09.2015 and 08.08.2019. [Para 33][635-H; 636- A-B]

In view of the afore-stated factual and legal aspects of the matter, the Court does not find any error having been A B C D E F G H SAKSHI ARHA v. THE RAJASTHAN HIGH COURT AND OTHERS 591 committed by the High Court while passing the impugned judgments and orders. [Para 34][636-C] A