Orissa HC Orders Fresh Review Of Constable Applicant’s Rejected Bid, Accepting Certificate Issued On Advertisement Date After COVID Delayed Renewal

In brief

The question

1. Whether the petitioner’s candidature could be rejected at document verification because the Employment Exchange certificate filed with her application had expired, despite her having been permitted to participate in the selection process.

The court held

The High Court quashed the rejection orders dated 23 March 2023 and 27 April 2023.

It also directed

It directed the Selection Board to accept the petitioner’s fresh Employment Exchange certificate, reconsider her selection and recommend her if otherwise eligible; the State was directed to appoint her if recommended.

The exercise was to be completed within two months.

If appointed, she would be treated as a new appointee and could not claim seniority over her batchmates already appointed.

01Facts

The petitioner applied for recruitment as a Constable (Civil) in the GRP, Cuttack, under an advertisement dated 30 December 2022.

pp. 3–4

She submitted an Employment Exchange registration certificate issued in 2018, which had expired in December 2021, and obtained a fresh certificate on 30 December 2022.

pp. 3–4, 11–12

After participating in the written and physical tests, her candidature was rejected because the certificate submitted with her application was no longer valid and the fresh certificate was issued on the advertisement date.

pp. 3–4, 11–12

In an earlier writ petition, the High Court directed the Selection Board to reconsider her claim in light of Union of India v. Pritilata Nanda; the Board nevertheless rejected it.

pp. 4–6, 11–12

02Issues

i.1. Whether the petitioner’s candidature could be rejected at document verification because the Employment Exchange certificate filed with her application had expired, despite her having been permitted to participate in the selection process.

pp. 11–13

ii.2. Whether the fresh certificate obtained on the date of the advertisement could be accepted, considering the petitioner’s explanation that the COVID-19 pandemic prevented timely renewal.

pp. 12–13

03Law Applied

The advertisement required candidates to have registered with an Employment Exchange before its publication, and the respondents relied on the Odisha Police Service (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Constables) Order, 2021.

pp. 10–11

The Court applied the principle in Union of India v. Pritilata Nanda, (2010) 11 SCC 674, that authorities who have accepted a candidate’s application and allowed participation in selection cannot later deny consideration on the stated procedural ground in the circumstances addressed by that decision.

pp. 4–5, 12–13

The Court also relied on a Madhya Pradesh High Court decision concerning the effect of COVID-19-related disruption on Employment Exchange registration requirements.

pp. 7–9, 13

Provisions in the judgment · 1

Police Act, 1868 Section 12

04Reasoning

The petitioner had submitted an Employment Exchange certificate with her application and was allowed to proceed through the written and physical tests.

pp. 11–13

The Court considered it unfair to reject her only at document verification for the certificate’s expiry, particularly because she had obtained a fresh certificate and explained that pandemic-related disruption prevented renewal in December 2021.

pp. 11–13

Applying Pritilata Nanda and the cited Madhya Pradesh decision, the Court held that the fresh certificate should be accepted notwithstanding its issue on the advertisement date, and that the stated ground for rejection was unsustainable.

pp. 12–13