Allahabad High Court
Anju Chauhan vs State Of U.P. And 3 Others on 18 January, 2023
Bench: Manoj Misra, Vikas Budhwar
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
?Court No. - 29
Case :- SPECIAL APPEAL No. - 10 of 2023
Appellant :- Anju Chauhan
Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others
Counsel for Appellant :- Rajesh Dutta Pandey,Niraj Kumar
Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Siddharth Singhal
Hon'ble Manoj Misra,J.
Hon'ble Vikas Budhwar,J.
Heard learned counsel for the appellant, learned Standing Counsel for the respondent no. 1 and Sri Siddharth Singhal, learned counsel for the respondent nos. 3 and 4.
This intra-court appeal is against the judgment and order of the learned Single Judge dated 06.12.2022 dismissing Writ-A No. 19461of 2022 which sought quashing of the order rejecting petitioner's candidature for appointment on the post of Health Worker (Female) on the ground that she did not possess registration with U.P. Nurses and Midwife Council, Lucknow by the last date for submission of the application form.
There is no dispute that by clause no. 6 in the advertisement it was necessary for the applicant to have registration from U.P. Nurses and Midwife Council, Lucknow by the last date for submission of the application form, which was 05.01.2022.
The case of the appellant is that she held the registration certificate by the time of verification therefore, there was no justification to non-suit her candidature.
The learned counsel for the appellant has placed reliance on a decision of the Apex Court in Kumari Laxmi Saroj & Ors. Vs. State of U.P. & Ors. (Civil Appeal No. 9040 of 2022 arising out of SLP (C) No. 14252 of 2022) decided on 15.12.2022, wherein in respect of the recruitment in question, the Apex Court had allowed consideration of candidature of such candidates who though could not obtain registration certificate from U.P. Council by the last date of submission of the application form but had applied for registration before the last date for submission of the application and ultimately obtained the same. The Apex Court held that they should not suffer on account of no fault on their part as they had already applied to the U.P. Council for registration.
The learned counsel for the respondent nos. 2 and 3 submitted that the judgment of the Apex Court would not be applicable in the case of the appellant in as much as in the instant case the appellant had not applied for registration with the U.P. Nurses and Midwife Council, Lucknow before the last date of submission of the application form as would be clear from the certificate which is there on record at page 83 of the paper book. It has been submitted that from the perusal of the certificate it is clear that the date of application was 12.01.2022 whereas the last for submission of the application form as per the advertisement was 05.01.2022. It has been argued on behalf of the respondent nos. 2 and 3 that since Clause-6 of the advertisement specifically provided that the candidate must possess a certificate of registration from the U.P. Council by the last date of submission of the application form and that condition has not been questioned in the writ petition, no relief can be granted to the appellant.
Having considered the rival submissions, on perusal of the record, we notice that essential qualifications are specified in Clause-6 of the advertisement. According to which, one of the essential qualifications is that the candidate must hold certificate of registration from U.P. Nurses and Midwife Council, Lucknow by or before the last date of submission of the application form which, as per the advertisement, was 05.01.2022. The certificate of registration which has been brought on record would indicate that application for registration with U.P. Nurses and Midwife Council, Lucknow was submitted on 12.01.2022, that is, after the last date. The judgment of the Apex Court on which reliance has been placed by the learned counsel for the appellant in paragraph no. 4.2 clearly states that all the appellants except one had applied for registration with U.P. Council before the date of advertisement i.e. 15.12.2021 and from the table provided in paragraph 4 of the judgment it is clear that all the four candidates had applied for registration before the last date of submission of the application form. In that context, the Apex Court held that the candidates cannot be penalised for no fault on their part. Whereas, in the instant case, the appellant had not even applied for registration before the last date for submission of application.
In such circumstances, the decision of the Apex Court is distinguishable on facts and since the appellant has not questioned condition laid down in clause no. 6 of the advertisement, no relief can be granted to the petitioner. We, therefore, find no justification to interfere with the order passed by the learned Single Judge. The appeal is dismissed.
Order Date :- 18.1.2023/Nisha
