Delhi High Court
Atul Dhariya vs Union Of India & Ors. on 6 January, 2022
$~12
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 06th January 2022
+ W.P.(C) 13697/2021
ATUL DHARIYA ..... Petitioner
Through Ms. Tanya, Adv. for Mr. Ajit
Kakkar, Adv.
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through Mr.Satya Ranjan Swain,
Central Govt. Sr. Panel Counsel
with Mr. Kautilya Birat, Adv.
alongwith Mr. Rajat Mathuria,
Law Officer.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE MANMOHAN
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE NAVIN CHAWLA
NAVIN CHAWLA, J. (Oral)
The petition has been heard by way of video-conferencing.
1. This petition has been filed by the petitioner praying for a
direction to the respondents to allow him to join at INS Chilka and
consider him in further enrolment/recruitment process.
2. The petitioner had applied for the post of Navik (GD) in the
Indian Coast Guard (in short, „ICG‟) for the 02/2021 batch. The
petitioner cleared the Stage - I recruitment process successfully. The
petitioner was thereafter called for the Physical Fitness Test, which
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also he successfully completed. However, on examination of his
documents, the Recruitment Board declared him as not qualified and
failed him on account of some issue with his Caste Certificate. The
petitioner states that thereafter he checked his application status online
on the portal and the same showed „Invalid Credentials‟.
3. The petitioner claims that in the month of August 2021, his
phone was damaged and he did not have money to get it repaired as he
belongs to a humble background. For this reason, he was not able to
check his result, which was declared and uploaded by the respondents
on the website on 12.08.2021. The petitioner further claims that on
14.08.2021 he received an e-mail from the Recruitment Directorate
that his case has been re-examined and his documents have been
found to be in order and that he has cleared the Stage - II recruitment
process. The petitioner claims that as he was unaware of his clearing
of the Stage - II recruitment process, he could not report at INS Chilka
for the Stage - III recruitment process on 27.08.2021, as directed. The
petitioner states that he was unable to report for the Stage - III
recruitment process due to negligence and communication gap from
the respondents‟ end as no intimation was given to the petitioner
through a text message or through a postal communication of his
clearing the Stage - II recruitment process. Such intimation was given
only through e-mail, which the petitioner was unable to check because
he was using the basic-feature phone and surviving on limited
resources.
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4. The petitioner claims that he then received an e-mail dated
08.09.2021 from the Recruitment Directorate seeking reason(s) why
he had not reported to INS Chilka. He thereafter got his phone
repaired on 13.09.2021 and checked his e-mail on 14.09.2021, when
he came to know that he had to report at INS Chilka by 27.08.2021.
The petitioner claims that he reported at the Headquarters in Noida, on
15.09.2021, when he was asked to report at INS Chilka with all his
documents and the police verification report. The petitioner got his
police verification conducted and reported at INS Chilka on
21.09.2021 and regularly thereafter, however, he was not allowed to
enter the facility or meet any official. On 29.09.2021, the petitioner
also submitted a written application to the Commanding Officer at
INS Chilka, explaining his inability to report at an earlier stage. The
petitioner claims that he cannot be denied employment for the fault of
the respondents who had earlier declared him as „failed‟ during the
verification of the documents, which was later found to be incorrect,
thereby declaring him successful in the Stage - II recruitment process,
however, intimation thereof was not properly given to the petitioner.
5. On the other hand, the respondent no. 3, in its counter affidavit,
has stated that the petitioner was only provisionally failed at Stage - II
examination by the Recruitment Board during the verification of the
documents at Noida, on 29.06.2021, with a direction to check the final
result on his login ID when the results are declared on the ICG
website. The petitioner was declared „pass‟ for Stage - II during the
final scrutiny of the documents by the ICG prior to issuing the E-admit
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Card for the Stage - III recruitment process and the same was
informed to the petitioner vide e-mail dated 14.08.2021 with a
direction to check his result on the ICG website. The petitioner,
however, neither checked his login dashboard nor downloaded the E-
admit Card. The petitioner also did not report at INS Chilka on
27.08.2021 as directed.
6. The respondents further placed reliance on paragraph 12(r) of
the General Guidelines of the Advertisement No. 02/2021, which calls
upon the candidates to regularly check their e-mail and the ICG
website and warns that the failure to check the e-mail and the ICG
website may lead to non-reporting for various recruitment stages by
the candidates and consequently, the cancellation of his/her
candidature. The relevant Guideline in the Advertisement No.
02/2021, is reproduced hereinbelow:
"12 General Guidelines
xxxxx
(r) Candidates must have valid e-mail ID
and mobile no. for successful online
registration. The communication by ICG with
the candidate will be only through e-mail, SMS
on mobile and ICG website. Candidates are
directed to check the ICG website and e-mail
regularly for any change in recruitment
schedule. Failure to regularly check the e-mail
and ICG website may lead to non-reporting for
various recruitment stages by the candidate
and the candidature will be cancelled. No
response on the e-mail & update as published
on ICG recruitment website will lead to
cancellation of candidature. ICG will not be
responsible if the candidate fails to regularly
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check the important recruitment
communication through e-mail and website."
7. The respondents claim that in the present case, the intimation
about the petitioner being successful in the Stage - II recruitment
process, was given to the petitioner as per the mode prescribed in the
Advertisement No. 02/2021 and therefore, no fault can be attributed to
the respondents.
8. The learned counsel for the respondents has further stated that
similar advice was given to another twenty-eight candidates who were
provisionally declared as „failed‟ during the verification of the
documents. Out of them, eight candidates duly downloaded their E-
admit card before the reporting date of State III examination and
reported at INS Chilka within the time prescribed, which the petitioner
failed to do.
9. The learned counsel for the respondents further submits that the
training has commenced in the first week of September 2021 and more
than 50% of training has already been completed. He submits that the
petitioner, therefore, cannot be inducted into service at this belated
stage.
10. We have considered the submissions made by the learned
counsels for the parties. At the outset we must note and highlight that
the petitioner chose not to file a rejoinder to the counter-affidavit filed
by the respondents. Therefore, the submission of the respondents that
the petitioner was informed that he had been only provisionally
declared as „failed‟ during the verification of the documents and was
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further informed that he should check the final result on his login ID
when the results are declared on the ICG website, has remained
unrebutted by the petitioner. In such circumstances, no fault can be
laid with the respondents for not informing the petitioner by way of a
text message or by way of a postal communication inasmuch as
paragraph 12(r) of the Advertisement No. 02 of 2021 clearly lays
down the mode by which the candidates shall be informed of the
recruitment schedule. It further warns the candidates that failure to
regularly check the e-mail and the ICG website may lead to non-
reporting for various recruitment stages by the candidates and, as a
consequence, the cancellation of the candidature. The petitioner
should, therefore, have been more vigilant to check his e-mail and the
ICG website. He cannot transfer this burden on the respondents. Law
can only come to the aid of a person who is vigilant. In the present
case, however, we find that the petitioner was not vigilant and
therefore, lost out an opportunity of employment.
11. Equally, the explanation of the petitioner that his telephone had
been damaged, which he could not get repaired, cannot shift the
burden of communication of the result through another mode on the
respondents. The petitioner could have accessed his e-mail and/or the
ICG website through other modes and instruments like a cyber-cafe or
a phone of his friend or family members.
12. Merely because the petitioner was earlier declared as „failed‟
and later found as „passed‟ on documents verification, also does not
create any special equities in favour of the petitioner. As noted
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hereinabove, the respondents have claimed that the petitioner was
informed that the earlier decision was only provisional in nature and
was subject to the decision of the Headquarters. The petitioner has not
disputed this submission.
13. We must also take note of the submission of the respondents
that the training of the recruits commenced in the first week of
September 2021 and more than 50% of the training program has
already been completed. No relief, therefore, can be granted to the
petitioner at this belated stage.
14. In view of the above, we find no merit in the present petition.
The same is accordingly dismissed. There shall be no order as to costs.
NAVIN CHAWLA, J
MANMOHAN, J
JANUARY 6, 2022/Arya/P
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By:SHALOO BATRA
Signing Date:10.01.2022
