Uttarakhand High Court
Indian Council Of Forestry Research vs Mohammad Aslam on 4 July, 2025
Author: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
Bench: Manoj Kumar Tiwari
2025:UHC:5733-DB
HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL
HON'BLE JUSTICE SRI MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI AND
HON'BLE JUSTICE SRI SUBHASH UPADHYAY
Writ Petition (S/B) No. 258 of 2025
Indian Council of Forestry Research
and Education and another . --Petitioners
Versus
Mohammad Aslam --Respondent
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Advocates:-
Mr. K.P. Upadhyay, Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Vikas Pande, Advocate for the
petitioners.
Mr. Shailendra Nauriyal, Advocate for the respondent
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The Court made the following:
JUDGMENT:(per Hon'ble Justice Sri Manoj Kumar Tiwari)
1. Respondent, who belongs to Economically Weaker Section, responded to an advertisement issued by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (for short 'ICFRE)', for appointment as Scientist-B. He was permitted to participate in the written examination and thereafter interview also, but later, his candidature was rejected only on the ground that he has not furnished the Grade Point Average Conversion Certificate from the Institute, which awarded M.Sc. Degree to him.
2. Respondent approached Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi, by filing Original Application No. 2847 of 2023. Learned Tribunal allowed the Original Application, set aside the rejection of candidature of the respondent and directed the competent authority to issue offer of appointment to him on the post of Wood Scientist-B in EWS category. In paragraph no. 9.7 of the impugned judgment dated 22.04.2025, learned Tribunal held that non-furnishing of GPA conversion certificate does not entitle the authorities to reject his candidature, as the respondent has mentioned his percentage/grade percentage 1 2025:UHC:5733-DB in the qualifying degree examination in his application form in numeric form. Another reason assigned for allowing the Original Application was that respondent had obtained M.Sc. (WST) degree from Forest Research Institute, which is a constituent institute of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.
3. Learned Tribunal further held that requirement of furnishing certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage is not mandatory, in view of the condition mentioned in Clause 9(i) i) of the advertisement, which reads as under:-
"9 (i) i)- Certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage, if applicable."
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that every candidate was required to submit certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage, however, respondent did not submit such certificate, therefore, his candidature was rejected. In support of this submission, learned counsel has drawn attention of this Court to the following clause in the Advertisement No. DSB/ICFRE-2022 dated 05.09.2022:-
"In case the qualifying degree (M.Sc/B.E./B.Tech etc.) carries a Grade Point Average (GPA) system, instead of Percentage system, the duly certified conversion system prescribed by the educational institution must be submitted to ascertain requisite qualification of "First Class Degree" from the said educational institution."
5. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits, that the fact that respondent had not submitted the certificate from the concerned institute regarding conversion of GPA into percentage, came to the notice of the authorities after holding written examination and respondent was informed about the defect in his application and for the aforesaid reason, his candidature was rejected and the interference made by learned Tribunal was unwarranted.
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6. Learned counsel for the respondent disputes the submission made on behalf of the petitioners that respondent was informed about defect in his application, after holding written examination. He submits that respondent was also called for interview and if that was done after petitioners' became aware of the defect, then by application of principle of acquiescence and estoppel, petitioners could not have cancelled the candidature of respondent. He submits that his client appeared in the interview, in the absence of any judicial order asking the authorities to permit him in interview. He submits that in view of the marks scored by respondent in the process of selection, he has earned a right of appointment, therefore, that right cannot be denied to him on the specious plea that certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage was not furnished by him.
7. Learned counsel for the respondent further submits that although the advertisement provided for furnishing of a certificate, however, consequence of non-furnishing of such certificate was not mentioned and there was nothing to indicate that the application made by a candidate would be rejected, if it is not supported by such certificate.
8. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that Forest Research Institute is a constituent institute of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and both are situate in the same campus.
9. Per contra, learned counsel for petitioners has drawn our attention to the following instructions to candidates, mentioned in the advertisement:-
"9 (i) Candidates are required to keep ready the following relevant details/information/documents/soft copies at the time of filling the online application form:
i) Certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage, if applicable.3
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(iv) Uploaded photograph, specimen signature and other documents must be clearly identifiable/visible, otherwise the application of the candidate is liable to be rejected and no representation from the candidate will be entertained.
(xi) Candidates are informed that there are provisions for editing at many stages. Once the complete process of filling up the information in the application form, uploading of the photograph, signature and other documents is completed, the candidate can view the entire application form together with the uploaded photograph, signature and other documents and can still edit at this point to make/incorporate any change/editing in any field of the application form before final submission. However, after final submission or after making payment of application fee, the candidate will not be able to make any changes in the filled/submitted form. 10(xviii) No request with respect to the change in any data submitted by the candidates in the online application form will be entertained once it is finally submitted. No scanned document will be accepted through e-mail or any other mode after final submission of application. No correspondence will be entertained in this regard. (xx) The mere fact that a candidate has been called for written examination and/or interview does not imply that his/her candidature has been finally cleared by ICFRE. The candidate must note that if his/ her ineligibility is detected at any stage before or after the written examination and/or interview or if the conditions prescribed in the Rules and Instructions given in the advertisement or any other additional information/ documents called for at any stage are not complied with within the time specified therein, his/her candidature will be liable for cancellation. The ICFRE will not be responsible for cancellation of candidature on this account.
• Candidates should fill application form very carefully. In case of wrongly submitted application, if a candidate wants to generate new application for the same discipline, he can do so by registering again using different E-mail ID and making payment of Fees."
10. From instructions to candidates, as mentioned in Clause 9 of the advertisement, it is revealed that candidates were cautioned to keep the relevant details, information/ documents/soft copy, ready at the time of filling online application forms, however, it does not indicate that non- furnishing of the relevant documents/information would result in rejection of their candidature. Similarly, the other 4 2025:UHC:5733-DB clauses of the advertisement, relied upon by learned counsel for the petitioners, cannot be pressed into service for supporting the decision to reject the candidature of respondent, as it is nowhere provided that uploading certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage, is mandatory and failure to upload such certificate will result in cancellation of candidature of a candidate.
11. Law is well settled that in case of any ambiguity in the advertisement for appointment to a public post or in the information brochure for admission to an educational institution, benefit thereof has to go to the candidate. Requirement of furnishing of certificate regarding conversion of GPA into percentage although was indicated in the advertisement, but it was not mentioned that it is an essential condition of eligibility and the consequence of non- furnishing of such certificate was also not indicated in the advertisement. Moreover, after scrutiny of the applications, respondent was not only permitted to participate in the written examination, but, he was also called for interview, and thus, he participated in the different stages of selection.
12. Hon'ble Supreme Court in case of Vashist Narayan Kumar Vs. The State of Bihar, reported in 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2, while dealing with similar controversy, has held as follows:-
"20. In this case, the appellant has participated in the selection process and cleared all the stages successfully. The error in the application is trivial which did not play any part in the selection process. The State was not justified in making a mountain out of this molehill. Perhaps the rarefied atmosphere of the cybercafe, got the better of the appellant. He omitted to notice the error and even failed to avail the corrective mechanism offered. In the instant case, we cannot turn a Nelson's eye to the ground realities that existed. In the order dated 22.11.2021 in C.A. No. 6983 of 2021 [Prince Jaibir Singh v. Union of India], this Court rightly observed that though technology is a great enabler, 5 2025:UHC:5733-DB there is at the same time, a digital divide."
13. The law declared by Hon'ble Supreme Court in the aforesaid judgment applies to the facts of the present case with full force. Even otherwise also, learned Tribunal has given valid reasons for allowing the Original Application.
14. We concur with the reasoning given by learned Tribunal. Thus, we do not see any good ground to interfere in the matter. The writ petition fails and is dismissed.
_______________________________ MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI, J.
____________________________ SUBHASH UPADHYAY, J.
Dt: 4th July, 2025 Mahinder MAHINDER SINGH Digitally signed by MAHINDER SINGH DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=da6212e6e78d94ed3134842bc6a8d6ca168979ca7b8c2f031a92d1a18b08923c, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=AB77B7C5B240908B392BE84F5CDD4C2AF35DC4626D305B1BC9EA4BABA43D2B8F, cn=MAHINDER SINGH Date: 2025.07.14 18:00:22 +05'30' 6