Allahabad High Court
Ajay Kumar vs State Of U.P. And 3 Others on 4 August, 2021
Bench: Mahesh Chandra Tripathi
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 36
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 959 of 2021
Petitioner :- Ajay Kumar
Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others
Counsel for Petitioner :- Krishna Kant Tiwari
Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri Sheetla Dubey, learned Standing Counsel.
Present writ petition has been preferred assailing the validity of medical result dated 24.4.2019 declaring the petitioner unfit for Police Constable Recruitment Examination, 2018 and for a direction to the respondents to treat the petitioner fit and send him for training along with other selected candidates.
On the matter being taken up on 28.1.2021, a preliminary objection was raised by learned Standing Counsel that nothing has been stated in the writ petition explaining the laches in filing the present writ petition. On the request of learned counsel for the petitioner the matter was adjourned on the said date for enabling him to file supplementary affidavit in this regard. Thereafter, the matter was listed on 2.3.2020, 28.6.2021 and 16.7.2021. Today the affidavit dated 27.7.2021 has been filed explaining the laches in para 2, 3, 4 and 5 as under:-
"2. That at the very outset the petitioner most respectfully seeks exemption from filing affidavit of the deponent as be is unable to reach Allahabad due to ongoing pandemic. Petitioner undertakes to make the aforesaid deficiency removed within a period of one month after the ongoing pandemic.
3. That the petitioner's candidatures are rejected in medical test as under height after the final selection, while there height are measured fit in the Physical Standard Test conducted by the Board under section 15-D of concern rules.
4. That petitioner has no knowledge about the legal proceedings that board cannot reject the candidature of the candidates on the basis of height in the medical test after final selection as held by this Hon'ble Court in the case of Bhanu Pratap Rajpoot. For kind perusal of this Hon'ble Court photocopy of the judgment is being filed herewith and marked as Annexure No.A.A.-1 to this affidavit.
5. That petitioner has come to knowledge about the aforesaid judgment only in the month of December, 2020 and immediately thereafter he is filing the instant writ petition and as such the delay occurred in filing the instant writ petition is not intentional and liable to be condoned by this Hon'ble Court so that justice may be done."
From bare perusal of the aforesaid averment, this Court finds that reliance has been placed on the order dated 5.9.2018 passed in Writ-A No.14195 of 2018 (Bhanu Pratap Rajput v. State of U.P. & Ors.) but no satisfactory explanation has been given for condoning the delay in filing the writ petition. Suffice to indicate that the recruitment is of the year 2018 and at this belated stage the Court is not inclined to interfere in the matter.
On the question of laches, the Supreme Court in AIR 1972 SC 2060, Kamini Kumar Das Chaudhary vs. State of West Bengal and others in Para 11 of the said judgment has held as under:-
"11. We may mention that the Division Bench of Calcutta High Court had, treating the case as one for a mandamus to reinstate the appellant, relied upon the statements in Halsbury's Laws of England, Third Edition, Vol. 11, page 73 article 133 that "except in a case where the delay is accounted for Mandamus will not be granted unless applied for within a reasonable time after the demand and refusal". The Division Bench had also referred to Farris on "Extraordinary Legal Remedies" (page 228), to hold that not only, on an analogy from the Statute of limitation in civil cases, a reasonable period may be indicated for applications for Writs of Mandamus, but relief may be refused on the ground of acquiescence and presumed abandonment of the right to complain inferred from inordinate delay. It rightly observed that laches is a well established ground for refusal to exercise the discretion to issue a Writ."
In view of above, the writ petition sans merit and is accordingly dismissed on the ground of laches.
The party shall file computer generated copy of such order downloaded from the official website of High Court Allahabad, self attested by the petitioner alongwith a self attested identity proof of the said person (preferably Aadhar Card) mentioning the mobile number to which the said Aadhar Card is linked.
The concerned Court/Authority/Official shall verify the authenticity of such computerized copy of the order from the official website of High Court Allahabad and shall make a declaration of such verification in writing.
Order Date :- 4.8.2021
SP/
