Central Administrative Tribunal - Delhi
Kalayn Singh vs Delhi Subordinate Services Selection ... on 23 July, 2025
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OA No.622/2020
Item No. 41 (C-4)
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL
PRINCIPAL BENCH, NEW DELHI
OA No. 622/2020
Reserved on : 11.07.2025
Pronounced on : 23.07.2025
Hon'ble Mrs. Harvinder Kaur Oberoi, Member (J)
Hon'ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member(A)
Kalyan Singh
Aged about 29 years,
S/o Sh. Hanuman Singh
R/o Near Oswal Bhawan, VPO Asotra,
Tehsil Pachpadra District
Barmer, Rajasthan-344022
Mob. No. 7973004427
Post: TGT (Natural Science) (Male)
Post Code: 135/17
Group-B ....Applicant
(By Advocate : Mr. Shubham Bahl with Ms. Tanya Rose)
Versus
1. Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB)
Through its Chairman
Govt. of NCT of Delhi,
FC-18, Institutional Area,
Karkardooma, Delhi-110092
2. The Director of Education,
Directorate of Education,
Govt. of NCT of Delhi
Old Secretariat Building,
Civil Lines, Delhi-110054 .... Respondents
(By Advocate: Mr. Pradeep Kumar)
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OA No.622/2020
Item No. 41 (C-4)
ORDER
Hon'ble Dr. Sumeet Jerath, Member (A):
This OA has been filed by the applicant under Section 19 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 seeking the following reliefs:-
"(i) Declare the impugned Rejection Notice No. 600 dated 13.02.2020 issued by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) whereby the candidature of the applicant for appointment on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17) in Directorate of Education in the UR category was rejected on the ground "Did not upload legible copies of requisite documents as per RR's" as well as the impugned action on the part of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB), for not activating/opening the e-dossier link for uploading the e-dossier between the prescribed period i.e. between 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019 in terms of the Supplementary Result Notice No. 533 dated 09.10.2019, whereby the applicant herein was directed to upload his legible documents through the e-dossier module for appointment on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17) in Directorate of Education as illegal as well as unjustified;
(ii) Direct the respondents to accept the e-dossier (or hard copies of the qualification certificates and other requisite documents) and, thereafter, consider his candidature for appointment on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17) in UR category and grant his all the consequential benefits thereof;
(iii) allow the present Application with costs, in favour of the applicant;3 OA No.622/2020
Item No. 41 (C-4)
(iv) issue any other appropriate order or direction as this Hon'ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the interest of justice and in the favour of the applicant;."
2. The factual matrix of the case as per the counsel of the applicant is that vide Vacancy Notice/Advertisement No. 04/2017 dated 20.12.2017 DSSSB inter alia invited applications for 222 posts of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code No. 135/17) to which the applicant applied under UR category. He appeared in the written exam held on 29.09.2018 wherein he obtained 109.80 marks out of 200 much more than the cut off of 80.96 marks due to which he was short listed for the said post. Subsequently, he was directed to upload his e-dossier within the prescribed time which he did and the same was accepted also by the respondents vide e-dossier No. 26552609. However, the Result Notice No. 455 dated 28.05.2019 did not reflect his name Rather out of 204 candidates selected for the said post result of 9 candidates was kept pending on account of insufficient documents. Those 9 candidates including the applicant were directed to upload their requisite legible documents in e-dossier module within a time line of 30.05.2019 to 08.06.2019. Pursuant to the same, the applicant uploaded his B.Sc certificate in time as the link was provided only for the 4 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4) said certificate only. Subsequently, vide Supplementary Result Notice No 553 dated 09.10.2019 he was again directed to upload his pending documents within 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019. On 18.10.2019, the applicant tried to upload his e-dossier however, he could not do the same as the link showed that "No any Recalled Documents" and there was no other option to upload documents. Aggrieved, he preferred representation dated 18.10.2019 requesting DSSSB to open the e-dossier link to which the applicant was verbally assured that the link would be active by 20.10.2019 but to no avail as the said link was not working at all about which the applicant informed the respondents via several mails. Thereafter personal repeated visits were also made by the applicant however, neither the said deficiency was made good nor the hard copies of the requisite documents sent via speed post were accepted by the respondents. Aggrieved, he made another representation dated 27.01.2020 requesting the DSSSB to consider his candidature for appointment to the post in question. However, nothing has been done till date. Rather, impugned rejection notice No. 600 dated 13.02.2020 was issued by the DSSSB on the ground of "Did not upload legible copies of requisite documents as per RRs." Hence, the present OA. 5 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4)
3. The counsel of the applicant argued assiduously using the following grounds :-
"A. The impugned Rejection Notice No. 600 dated 13.02.2020 issued by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) whereby the candidature of the applicant for appointment on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17) in Directorate of Education in the UR category was rejected on the ground "Did not upload legible copies of requisite documents as per RR's" as well as the impugned action on the part of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB), for not activating/opening the e-dossier link for uploading the e-
dossier between the prescribed period i.e. between 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019 in terms of the Supplementary Result Notice No. 533 dated 09.10.2019, whereby the applicant herein was directed to upload his legible documents through the e-dossier module for appointment on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17) in Directorate of Education is illegal, unjustified, arbitrary, discriminatory, punitive, unreasonable, unconstitutional, violation of Articles 14, 16, 21 & 311 of the Constitution of India.
B. As per Supplementary Result Notice No. 533 dated 09.10.2019, the e-dossier link was to be active from 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019 for uploading the e-dossier of the applicant. It is submitted that the e-dossier link was not functional/not working/active between the aforesaid period i.e. 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019 and hence the applicant was not able to upload his e-dossier in terms of the aforesaid Supplementary Result Notice No. 533 dated 09.10.2019. It is submitted that on 18.10.2019, the applicant tried to upload his e-dossier through e-dossier link provided by the respondent No.1 but however, the e-dossier link provided by the respondent No.1 was saying "No any Recalled 6 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4) Documents". It is submitted there were no other option to upload the documents in the link.
C. The applicant duly informed the respondent No.1 about the non-functional/inactive e-dossier link vide representation dated 18.10.2019 (i.e. between the prescribed period from 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019) and he was verbally assured that the link would be fixed within the prescribed period but however, no action was taken nor any reply has been received by the applicant. It is pertinent to mention herein that the applicant also submitted the hard copies of his documents via speed post on 11.11.2019. It is further submitted that the applicant made another representation dated 27.01.2020 (i.e. subsequent to the prescribed period from 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019) but however, no action nor any reply has been received by the applicant. It is submitted that in view of the aforesaid, the rejection of the candidature of the applicant would be illegal as well as unjustified and in all fairness, the applicant should have been given another opportunity to upload his e-dossier. D. The applicant is duly eligible, qualified and short listed candidate and is, therefore, entitled to be appointed on the post of TGT (Natural Science) (Male) (Post Code 135/17). E. The applicant is completely unemployed and is in dire need of employment."
4. The counsel of the applicant relied on the following decisions of Coordinate Bench of CAT which according to him are identical to the instant OA :-
(i) OA No. 1076/2019 - Mohan Lal Chhedwal vs. DSSSB & Another dated 02.08.2024 and 7 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4)
(ii) OA No. 862/2020 - Arvind Kaushik vs. DSSSB & Another dated 11.04.2023.
5. Per contra, the counsel of the respondents vehemently opposed the above arguments of the counsel of the applicant and stated that the applicant had uploaded copies of the documents which were reduced in size to an extent that they were illegible. He further stated that the applicant did not make good another opportunity afforded to him to upload legible copy of the documents as he uploaded the same reduced sized document again which he uploaded earlier. With regard to the submission of the applicant about his B.Sc certificate counsel for the respondents stated that except the said B.Sc degree certificate all other documents uploaded were illegible. Moreover, the documents submitted manually are not accepted by the system as no human intervention is allowed and also the documents uploaded by the candidates form part of the e- dossier which is verified by the department and thereafter forwarded to the user department virtually. Accordingly, the rejection notice was issued which is appropriate as despite having been granted three opportunities, the applicant failed to upload legible documents on DSSSB's website. 8 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4)
6. Relying on the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Food Corporation of India vs. Rimjhim - (2019) 5 SCC 793 dated 09.04.2019, in his rejoinder, the applicant reiterated the facts already mentioned in the OA and did not add anything new.
7. Considered the rival submissions, examined the relevant documents on record and perused the decisions of the Coordinate Bench of the Tribunal as well as the decision of the Hon'ble Apex Court. We are of the considered opinion that the facts and circumstances in the instant OA are different from the facts and circumstances of the OAs and case of the Apex Court whose decisions and judgments are being relied upon by the counsel of the applicant. We have observed that the applicant was given a long rope-three opportunities to upload legible documents in his support on the website of DSSSB. Despite three chances having been given, the applicant failed to upload legible and right font sized documents and thus was clearly remiss in his duties and responsibilities as a conscientious candidate. The petitioner's plea (that the e-dossier link was not functional/not working/active between 14.10.2019 to 20.10.2019 and hence he was not able to upload his e-dossier in terms of the supplementary result notice no. 533 dated 09.10.2019; and that on 18.10.2019, he tried to upload his e- 9 OA No.622/2020 Item No. 41 (C-4) dossier through e-dossier link but the link stated :- 'No any recalled documents") is not cogent and convincing as it seems that only he faced this difficulty and there was no complaint from other candidates who successfully uploaded their e- dossiers in the stipulated time window. And not once; not twice; but thrice he failed to do so and thus the blame now squarely lies at his doorstep. Moreover we have observed that this recruitment cycle was initiated on 20.12.2017 - about 8 years ago and must be completed by now. Further, the applicant does not enjoy any interim protection.
8. In the light of the above, we are of the considered opinion that the instant OA is devoid of merit; deserves to be dismissed and is accordingly dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.
Pending MA if any, also stands dismissed accordingly.
(Dr. Sumeet Jerath) (Harvinder Kaur Oberoi)
Member (A) Member (J)
/Mbt/