High Court · 2025

Mr. Vinay Kum ar, Mr. Anand Singh and Mr. Ravendra Singh Bisht , Counsel for t he pet it ioners. Mr. Ganesh Dat t Kandpal, Deput y AG, for t he St at e. Mr. Rakshit Srivast ava, Advocat e, i/ b Mr. Ram j i Srivast ava, Advocat e for t he respondent no. 3. Mr. At ul Bahuguna, Advocat e, for t he respondent no. 4. Since com m on quest ions of fact ( 2) and law are involved in t hese writ pet it ions, t hese are being heard and t herefore, decided com m on j udgm ent . How ever, for brev it y, fact s of Writ Pet it ion ( S/ S) No. 2331 of 2024 alone are being considered and discussed here. t oget her t his Medical Ut t arakhand ( 3) Service Select ion Board issued an advert isem ent on invit ing applicat ions against 11.3.2024, t he post of Nursing 1455 vacancies on Officer in different governm ent m edical colleges/ St at e Cancer I nst it ut e. Clause 6 of t he said advert isem ent required t hat every candidat e m ust regist ered w it h Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council subm ission of applicat ion. Pet it ioner t he advert isem ent , however her candidat ure was rej ect ed only on t he ground t hat she was not regist ered w it h Ut t arakhand Nurses last of and Midw ives Council on subm ission of applicat ion i.e. 1.4.2024. last dat e of responded t he t he t o Pet it ioner was regist ered w it h ( 4) Haryana Nurses and Midw ives Council on 2.8.2013 and she applied for t ransfer of her t o Ut t arakhand Nurses and regist rat ion Midw ives Council on 6.2.2024; Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council sent a let t er t o I ndian Nursing Council on 12.3.2024 and verificat ion Haryana Nurses and Midw ives Council on 7.6.2024, how ever t he fact rem ains t hat pet it ioner ’s regist rat ion was not t ransferred from Haryana Nurses and Midw ives Council t o Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council t ill t he last dat e of subm ission of applicat ion. sought report I t disput e ( 5) t hat regist rat ion of t he pet it ioner was ult im at ely t ransferred from Haryana Nurses and Midw ives Council and her nam e cam e t o be regist ered w it h Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council on 4.7.2024. Now, t he sole quest ion which falls for considerat ion before t his Court is whet her pet it ioner ’s applicat ion for appoint m ent as Nursing Officer can be rej ect ed on t he ground t hat regist ered w it h Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council subm ission of t he applicat ion? last dat e of nam e was ( 6) Learned Counsel for t he pet it ioner relied upon a j udgm ent rendered by Hon’ble Suprem e Court in t he case of Laxm i Saroj v. St at e of U.P., report ed as ( 2022) 17 SCC 477. I n t he said j udgm ent , while dealing w it h sim ilar fact s, Hon’ble Suprem e Court held as under: “ 1 1 . Thus, because of t he lat e issuance of t he regist rat ion by t he U.P. Council, t he appellant s could not produce t he U.P. Council regist rat ion eit her on t he last dat e of t he applicat ion and/ or at t he t im e of verificat ion of docum ent s and t herefore, t hey were held ineligible. fault on t he part of in not producing 1 2 . From t he aforesaid, it can be seen t hat t he t here was no as such, t he U.P. Council appellant s t he regist rat ion eit her at applicat ion form s or even at t he t im e of verificat ion of t he docum ent s. As such, all t he appellant s except one had applied for U.P. Council regist rat ion before t he dat e of advert isem ent i.e. 15- 12- 2021. Therefore, for no fault ( s) of t heirs, t he appellant s could not have been m ade t o suffer . t im e of subm it t ing t he t he 1 3 . The issue involved is direct ly covered in Narender t his Cour t decision Singh v. St at e of Haryana [ Narender Singh v. St at e of Haryana, ( 2022) 3 SCC 286 : ( 2022) 1 SCC ( L&S) 537] . I n t he said decision, it is observed and held by t his Court t hat once it was found t hat t here was no lapse/ delay on t he part of t he applicant and/ or t here in not was no producing t he NOC at t he relevant t im e, he cannot be punished for t he sam e. t he appellant / applicant fault of 1 4 . When t he aforesaid decision was pressed int o service before t he High Court on behalf of t he appellant s, t he High Court has not followed t he sam e by observing t hat t he direct ions issued by t his Court in Narender Singh [ Narender Singh v. St at e of Haryana, ( 2022) 3 SCC 286 : ( 2022) 1 SCC ( L&S) 537] , were in exercise of powers under Art icle 142 of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia. The aforesaid is a m isreading and/ or m isint erpret ing of t he j udgm ent of t his Court . This Court has specifically laid down t he law t hat if it is found t hat t here is no lapse/ delay on t he part of t he applicant , he cannot be punished at t ribut able t o him . However, as in t hat case, anot her candidat e/ em ployee was already appoint ed, t his Court had prot ect ed his service also while exercising t he powers under Art icle 142 of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia. Therefore, exercise of t he powers under Art icle 142 of t he Const it ut ion of I ndia was for prot ect ing t he service of anot her em ployee, Respondent 4 in t hat case. The High Court has as such, m isread t he j udgm ent of t his Court .” for no ( 7) Since issue involved in t hese writ pet it ions is no longer res int egra, t herefore, t his Court has no hesit at ion in holding t hat rej ect ion of candidat ure of pet it ioners, only on t he ground t hat t hey were not regist ered w it h Ut t arakhand Nurses and Midw ives Council on t he last dat e of subm ission of applicat ion, is unsust ainable. Writ pet it ions are, t herefore, allowed. Order dat ed 18.11.2024, passed by t he select ing body is set rej ect ing pet it ioners candidat ure, aside qua t he pet it ioners. Respondent s are direct ed t o consider t he claim of pet it ioners for appoint m ent as per applicable select ion crit eria and also declare t he result . ( M a n o j K u m a r Ti w a r i , J.) 6 .1 1 .2 0 2 5 Pr PRABODH KUMAR DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3a082a00a95aff911a9559743af8f21c50602ff6eae4e61af3aeab198d462503, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=0DC111E8D8CA66E16B940EFDF806ACCC1AB588052DF6FCA58C67F3C91957BE53, cn=PRABODH KUMAR