### Reserved Category Eligibility Requires Possession of Valid Certificate Throughout the Prescribed Document Uploading Window

The petitioner applied for the post of Assistant Director (IT), Class-I under Advertisement No. 108/2024-25 issued by the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC).

At the time of application (February 2025), she held a valid Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificate dated 08.08.2022, valid until 07.08.2025.

Candidates were required to upload documents between 17.09.2025 and 26.09.2025.

The petitioner’s EWS certificate expired on 07.08.2025, and her renewed certificate was only issued on 04.11.2025.

The GPSC treated her as an unreserved category candidate per Instruction No. 7(10) of the advertisement.

Although she attended the interview, she was excluded from the final select list while a candidate with lower marks in the EWS Female category was recommended.

1. Whether a candidate can claim reservation benefits based on a certificate renewed after the cut-off date prescribed for document verification in the advertisement.

2. Whether the respondent-GPSC’s action of treating the petitioner as an unreserved category candidate due to the expiration of her EWS certificate during the selection process was legal and valid.

Article 226 of the Constitution of India regarding the High Court's discretionary jurisdiction.

Principle of strict adherence to the terms and conditions of a recruitment advertisement.

Clause 9 of the advertisement stipulated that for recruitments involving a preliminary exam followed by scrutiny, the requisite eligibility certificate must be valid as of the last date prescribed for uploading documents.

Eligibility criteria and cut-off dates are binding and must be applied uniformly to ensure non-discrimination.

The Court analyzed the timeline of the recruitment process against the validity of the petitioner’s EWS certificate; while the petitioner possessed a valid certificate at the initial application stage in February 2025, the Court emphasized that Clause 9 of the advertisement created a specific mandate: the certificate must be valid on the last date of the document-uploading window (26.09.2025).

Since the petitioner's certificate expired on 07.08.2025 and the renewed certificate was only obtained on 04.11.2025, she lacked a valid document during the critical verification period.

The Court reasoned that the language of the advertisement was explicit and left no room for pragmatic or equitable interpretations that would allow a late certificate to "relate back" to the relevant date.

Uniform application of these rules is necessary to maintain the integrity of the selection process.

The Court affirmed that the GPSC was justified in treating her as an unreserved candidate; no equitable relief was granted as the terms of the advertisement are binding upon all candidates.