Central Administrative Tribunal - Allahabad
Rampal Rathor Son Of Pooran Lal Rathor vs Union Of India Through Secretary on 18 October, 2010
Open Court CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ALLAHABAD BENCH, ALLAHABAD ******* Original Application No. 1511 of 2010 Allahabad, this the 18th day of October, 2010 Honble Mr. Justice S.C. Sharma, Member (J) Honble Mr. D.C. Lakha Member (A) Rampal Rathor son of Pooran Lal Rathor, resident of Mohalla Dilzak near Head Post Office, Police Station Sadar Bazar, District Shahjahanpur. Applicant By Advocate: Mr. D.K. Srivastava Vs. 1. Union of India through Secretary, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, New Delhi. 2. Superintendent of Post Office Shahjahanpur, District Shahjahanpur. 3. Post Master General Bareilly Region, Bareilly, District Bareilly. Respondents By Advocate: Mr. Sampan Kumar O R D E R
By Honble Mr. Justice S.C. Sharma, J.M. Under challenge, in this O.A., is the order dated 23.09.2010 passed by respondent No. 2-Superintendent of Post Offices, Shahjahanpur, District Shahjahanpur. Further prayer is also made not to interfere in the peaceful working of the applicant to the post of the Postman at Head Post Office Shahjahanpur.
2. We have heard Mr. D.K. Srivastava, Advocate for the applicant and Mr. Sampan Kumar, Advocate appearing for the respondents, and perused the entire facts of the case.
3. Learned counsel for the applicant attracted our attention towards annexure A-1 i.e. the order passed by respondent No. 2 regarding cancellation of his candidature as OBC category for the post of Postman. Otherwise it appears that the applicant was found eligible for appointment/promotion as Postman. After hearing the learned counsel for the applicant and considering the entire facts of the case, we are of the opinion that this O.A. deserves to be disposed of finally at this stage. It will be futile exercise to keep this O.A. pending for number of years. We have perused the order (annexure A-1), which is reproduced as follows: -
The result of Postman Exam-2008 held on 06.07.2008 declared vide this office memo No. SP/Con/Postman/exam dated 30.08.2008 was reviewed by the competent authority, during review, it was found that Sri Ram Pal Rathore has not submitted any certificate in support of being OBC candidate till the last date of receipt of application or even till the date of declaration of result. As such he can not be given benefit of reservation of OBC category and he will be treated at for with OC candidate. In the concluding paragraph of this order (annexure A-1), it has also been opined that As such, the competent authority has ordered for cancellation of his selection with immediate effect. Learned counsel for the applicant argued that the candidature of the applicant was rejected at the time of declaration of result or even after declaration of result merely on the point that the applicant failed to produce a caste certificate, which is required in order to claim the privilege of OBC candidate. Whereas learned counsel for the applicant argued that there was no question of submission of caste certificate. He also pointed out that the caste certificate issued by the Tahsildar, Sadar, Shahjahanpur dated 16.11.1995 is on record. It is stated that a copy of the certificate was delivered and annexed along with the application form. We are of the opinion that candidature of the applicant was cancelled merely on a technical point. Learned counsel appearing for the respondents is not in a position to state the correct facts. He requested for time in order to file the Counter Affidavit but considering the facts established on record, we are of the opinion that there appears no necessity to allow any time to the respondents to file the Counter Affidavit. Reasons for canceling the candidature of the applicant is evident from annexure A-1. It is a fact that the applicant submitted the form for examination claiming the benefit of O.B.C. It might be naturally appeals to common sense that at the time of submitting the application form, certificates relied upon by the applicant for his candidature are annexed. It may be possible that the caste certificate filed by the applicant at the time of submission of application form might have misplaced. It is seen that the caste certificate was issued to the applicant as early as on 16.11.1995. There is no material before us that the caste certificate has been manipulated later on. However, on submission of this caste certificate, the respondents are at liberty to get it examine by the competent authority and in case it is found fake or manipulated, then the applicant has to face the prosecution otherwise it may be accepted as genuine and benefits may be given to the applicant. Learned counsel for the applicant also argued that result of the applicant was declared and he was declared successful and even he had been undergoing the training, required for the post of Postman. Paper No. 17 of this record shows the names of the persons, who were declared successful in the examination and they had to impart the necessary training. Name of the applicant is at serial No. 4 and he is OBC candidate. Moreover, if OBC certificate was misplaced from the record or it was not filed along with the application, then when this fact was detected to the respondents, they could have directed the applicant to file copy of the certificate within a specific time. But perusal of the order (annexure A-1) shows that no opportunity was provided to the applicant to produce the copy of caste certificate. In our opinion, it is against the principle of natural justice. At least one opportunity should have been afforded to the applicant prior to rejection of his candidature and in case within the specified time the applicant failed to produce the certificate, then his candidature could have been cancelled. Otherwise it can be said that the act of the respondents is dictatorial.
4. For the reasons mentioned above, we are of the opinion that the O.A. be disposed of finally at this stage.
5. The O.A. is disposed of finally. The applicant is directed to produce the copy of caste certificate dated 16.11.1995 to the respondent No. 2 within a period of 15 days from today along with the copy of this Order and after receipt of copy of caste certificate, the respondents are at liberty to verify the genuineness of the certificate, may be examined by the competent authority either by Tahsildar or any agency, which is available to them within two weeks from the date of submission of copy of caste certificate and in case the certificate is found genuine, then the candidature of the applicant shall be treated in order and he will be declared successful. The order dated 23.09.2010 (Annexure A-1) shall be subject to the result of verification of caste certificate. There shall be no order as to costs.
[D.C. Lakha] {Justice S.C. Sharma}
Member A Member J
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