Punjab-Haryana High Court
Geeta Devi vs State Of Haryana And Another on 25 September, 2012
Author: Augustine George Masih
Bench: Augustine George Masih
C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANAAT
CHANDIGARH
C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012
Date of Decision:- 25.09.2012
Geeta Devi ....Petitioner(s)
vs.
State of Haryana and another ....Respondent(s)
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CORAM:- HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH
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Present:- Mr.Rajbir Sehrawat, Advocate,
for the petitioner.
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AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH, J. (Oral)
Petitioner has approached this Court praying for issuance of a writ of Mandamus directing the Haryana Staff Selection Commission- respondent No.2 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Commission') to interview the petitioner for the post of Female Supervisor treating her to be a dependent of Ex-Serviceman (General) and to consider her for appointment to the post on merits.
Petitioner has asserted in the writ petition that 278 posts of Female Supervisor were advertised by the Commission. She fulfils the qualifications prescribed for the said post and intended to apply under the category of Dependents of Ex-Servicemen (General) but could not do so in the light of the policy dated 11.10.2001 framed by the State of Haryana for issuance of Dependent Certificate of Ex-Servicemen by the Zila Sainik C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -2- Boards for employment, according to which, married daughter of an Ex- servicemen was not eligible for issuance of a dependent certificate and, therefore, had to apply under the General category. As a large number of applications were received for the post of Female Supervisors, Commission resorted to short-listing of the candidates in the respective categories for interview on the basis of the academic advertised qualification i.e. Graduate from recognized University. Minimum cut-off percentage for the General Category was fixed at 65%. Since the petitioner had obtained 51.5% marks in her graduation degree, she was not called for interview. However, as per the public notice dated 1.8.2012, all applicants under the Ex-Servicemen (General) category were treated eligible and called for interview. Petitioner made enquiry in this regard and came to know that a Division Bench of this Court vide judgment dated 19.10.2011 (Annexure P-7) passed in CWP No.18110 of 2009 titled as Jai Narain Jakhar vs. State of Haryana and others, had held that clause (f) of the policy dated 11.10.2001 framed by the Government of Haryana, which denied dependent certificate to a married daughter of an Ex-Servicemen is ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution and held that clause (f) shall read as under:-
"(f) Married dependent son or married daughter of Ex-Servicemen who does not have independent source of livelihood will also be eligible for dependent certificate."
In the light of this clause (f), petitioner applied for issuance of a dependent of Ex-servicemen eligibility certificate, which was issued to her by the Secretary, Zila Sainik Board, Rewari on 12.9.2012 (Annexure P-8). C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -3- Armed with this certificate, petitioner had submitted a representation to the Secretary of the Commission dated 18.9.2012 (Annexure P-9) requesting for consideration of her candidature in the Ex-Servicemen (G) Category for the post of Female Supervisor. Petitioner has now approached this Court by way of the present writ petition.
Counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner has been denied a right for competing in the selection in the Ex-Servicemen (G) Category in the light of the policy of the Government of Haryana dated 11.10.2001 which dis-entitle a married daughter of an Ex-Serviceman from issuance of a Dependent Certificate, which has been declared to be ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution by a Division Bench of this Court and clause (f) of the said policy has been re-drafted, which relates back to the initial date of the issuance of the policy dated 11.10.2001. Therefore, the petitioner was entitled to the issuance of the dependent of Ex-Serviceman Certificate and also for applying under the said category. As it was not permissible at that time, the petitioner was forced to apply under the General Category under which, she could not make the grade. Now, the petitioner having been issued the eligibility certificate of dependent of Ex- Servicemen (G), is entitled to be considered for the post of Female Supervisor under this Category, to which the petitioner fulfils the essential qualification as there is no cut-off percentage fixed for this category. He, on this basis, contends that the present writ petition deserves to be allowed and a direction be issued to respondent No.2 to consider the claim of the petitioner under the Ex-Servicemen (General) Category.
I have considered the submissions made by the counsel for the C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -4- petitioner and have gone through the records of the case.
As per the advertisement which was published on 19.3.2011 (Annexure P-1), the closing date for receipt of the applications in the Commission's office was 18.4.2011 and it is on this date that the eligibility of a candidate was to be determined. This is apparent from Note 2 under the heading "Reservation of Posts". Under the heading "Documents to be attached with the Application Form", Clause (iv) specifies attested copy of fresh Eligibility Certificate in the case of DESM candidates duly issued by the respective Zila Sainik Board. Admittedly, petitioner had not applied for the certificate meant for the dependents of Ex-Servicemen prior to 18.4.2011. The argument raised by the counsel for the petitioner regarding non-application of the petitioner for the said Dependent Certificate is that the policy dated 11.10.2001, referred to above, did not entitle her for issuance of the said Dependent Certificate but the same cannot be accepted as the petitioner did not assert her right. Merely because a Division Bench of this Court vide its judgment dated 19.10.2011 passed in Jai Narain Jakhar's case (supra) had held the barring clause as ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution, would not confer a right upon the petitioner, which would extend the eligibility date for consideration as has been advertised by the Commission. In any case, the said judgment is dated 19.10.2011 but the petitioner did not take any steps immediately thereafter by approaching the Zila Sainik Board, Rewari for issuance of the eligibility certificate of Dependent of Ex-Servicemen and only submitted the application on 12.9.2012. It is only when the petitioner found that in the short-listing, which was resorted to by the Commission, she could not make the cut-off C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -5- percentage for being called for interview, tried to make an effort to assert her right of being a dependent of Ex-Servicemen. Now, when the petitioner has been issued a certificate on 12.9.2012 (Annexure P-8), she cannot be allowed to press a right, which was always available to her but she has chosen to waive the same as she had not even applied for the post of Female Supervisor under the Ex-Servicemen Category. She had simply submitted an application under the General Category, which claim, when she found had resulted in her ouster because of the criteria of short-listing resorted to by the Commission, she made an effort to put-forth her claim under the dependents of Ex-Servicemen Category, which cannot be permitted at this belated stage as the cut-off date for determining the eligibility of a candidate was 18.4.2011. Had there been any grouse of the petitioner with regard to her being denied the benefit of Ex-Servicemen category in the light of the policy dated 11.10.2001, she could have first applied under the said category for the post of Female Supervisor and if her claim would have been rejected, only then she would have any right to assert her claim under this Category. When the petitioner is not even an applicant or a candidate under the Dependent of Ex-Servicemen Category, she cannot now be permitted to assert that her candidature be considered under the Category of ESM(G). If the prayer made by the petitioner in the present writ petition is accepted, this would amount to conferring a benefit upon her to which she is not entitled to when she has not even applied for claiming the said benefit. That apart, the petitioner does not fulfil the requirement as fixed in the advertisement published on 19.3.2011 (Annexure P-1) which mandated attested copy of eligibility certificate to be C.W.P.No.19141 of 2012 -6- attached with the application form in the case of DESM candidates duly issued by the Zila Sainik Board. It would not be out of way to re-state here that the last date for receipt of applications was 18.4.2011, which was also fixed as a date for determining the eligibility of a candidate. The eligibility certificate issued to the petitioner as Dependent of Ex-Servicemen is dated 12.9.2012 (Annexure P-8) which is far beyond the cut-off date fixed by the Commission.
In view of the above, finding no merit in the present writ petition, the same stands dismissed.
September 25, 2012 ( AUGUSTINE GEORGE MASIH ) poonam JUDGE