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bees Respondents For the Applicant : Mr. A. Banerjee, Counsel For the Respondents ; Mr. D. Chowdhury, Counsel ORDER (Oral / Per Mr. Jayesh V. Bhairavia, Judicial Member:

The applicant herein participated in a recruitment process in respect to vacancy notice i.e. Centralised Employment Notice (CEN) No. RRC-01/2019 (Annexure A-13) against the vacancy notified in Eastern Railway, East Central Railway. It is stated by the applicant that he applied in respect of the vacancy reserved for the category of Course Completed Act Apprenticeship (CCAA). Though the applicant passed written examination, he has been declared disqualified during the document verification process. Hence, this O.A. Zz. Ld. Counsel for the applicant mainly submitted that the applicant possesses Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering and has also completed 1-year Graduate Railway Act Apprentice Training under The Apprentices Act, 1961. He hold a National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) (Annexure A-1 collectively).

1. Trade Apprentices -either 10" standard candidates or ITI qualified Candidates.

2. Technician Apprentices (Diploma Holders).

3. Graduate Engineer Apprentices (Degree Holders). 2.2. Itis stated that out of the said two categories of Apprenticeship, persons who complete his/her Apprentice Training (Either Trade or Graduate & Technician) 2 from Railway Establishments are commonly known as "Course Completed Act Apprentice from the Railway Establishment" (CCAA).

2.3. Further, it is stated that on completion of the period of training, the Trade Apprentices are awarded the National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) which is issued by the National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT), in other words, NCVT award the National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC).

4, Ld. Counsel, therefore, submits that the respondents have arbitrarily not considered Course Completed Act Apprentice from Railway Organisation for employment in spite of having NAC issued by Government and thereby i 7 0.A. 350/00808/2023 discriminated the applicant and the said action is in violation of the provisions contained under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

5. It is stated that para 6 of the CEN, more particularly, the restriction imposed by way of note below to the said para is contrary to the instructions issued by the Railway Recruitment Board and same ought not to have been inserted in the vacancy notice.

"party cannot be allowed to approbate or reprobate. The Unselected candidates cannot press into service a part of the 1978 rules while accepting the 2015 rules by taking part in the selection process, thus one cannot blow hot and cold. Such a selective adoption is not permissible under the law."

9, In the present O.A. undisputedly in terms of the vacancy notice i.e. CEN 01/2019 dated 23.2.2019 the applicant had submitted his application and participated in the selection process. It is apt to mention that the "Note below to para 6" of the said vacancy notice stipulates that "Diploma/Degree in Engineering will not be accepted in lieu of Course Completed Act Apprenticeship/ITI . Also, Graduate Act Apprentice will not be acceptable in lieu of Course Completed Act jo 8 0.A. 350/00808/2023 Apprenticeship." Jt is also not in dispute that the applicant possess education qualification of having passed Graduate Railway Apprenticeship, and National Apprentice Certificate. He applied in respect of the vacancy reserved for CCAA candidate in respect of Eastern Zone. The applicant was aware that as per the terms and conditions stipulated in the vacancy notice, the degree in Railway Apprenticeship will not be accepted and no weightage will be granted for possessing such qualification. It is also apt to mention that the applicant being full aware about the said terms and conditions had attempted to claim relaxation of the said condition and in this regard had submitted his application through E-mail before the competent authority on 5.3.2023 and had requested to grant him one \}\ time exemption from the applicability of the terms of Vacancy Notice and consider his candidature under the CCAA quota by granting him weightage to his education qualification i.e. Degree in Railway Apprenticeship. In this regard it is required to mention that the said application of the applicant was not accepted by the competent authority and had communicated him through E-mail with the remarks "the policy of Railway Board is to provide 20% of horizontal reservation in recruitment to level I post for Court Completed Act Apprentice trained in Railway Establishment and have National Apprentice Certificate (NAC) from NCVT. Since degree/diploma holders do not possess the requisite eligibility requirement, they are not eligible to get the benefit of 20% reservation earmarked for the CCAAs." After receipt of the said reply from the respondents the applicant had participated in the selection process and he was awarded the mark as per his education qualification admittedly without granting any weightage to his Graduation in Railway Apprenticeship. Since the applicant remained below in merit he was not provide with appointment. Thereafter, the applicant has filed the present O.A. challenging the terms and conditions stipulated in the vacancy notice as referred hereinabove. In our considered view, the claim of the applicant is pl g O.A. 350/00808/2023 not tenable in light of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court in RN. Murugesan (supra). We do not find any legal infirmities in the selection process held by the respondents, more particularly, in respect to considering the candidature of the applicant herein.