Madras High Court
M.Keerthika vs University Grants Commission on 8 April, 2021
W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 08.04.2021
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.ANAND VENKATESH
W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
M.Keerthika ... Petitioner
Vs.
1.University Grants Commission,
Represented by its Secretary,
Bahadurshah Marg Road,
New Delhi-11.
2.The Chairperson,
The Central Board of Secondary Education,
(An Autonomous Organisation under the Union Ministry of Human
Resource Development Govt. Of India),
Shiksha Kendra, 2, Community Centre,
Preet Vihar, Delhi-110092.
3.The Secretary (CBSE),
The Central Board of Secondary Education,
PS, 1-2, Institutional Area,
Extension, Patparganj,
Delhi-110092.
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
4.The Head,
NET Bureau,
University Grants Commission,
South Campus, University of Delhi,
Benito Juarez Marg,
New Delhi-110 021. ... Respondents
Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India, for issuance of a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the
records pertaining to the impugned order in No.CBSE/JS/NET/2018-19
dated 08.10.2020 on the file of the Respondent No.3 and quash the same
as illegal and consequently for a direction directing the Respondents to
consider the petitioner under OBC Category and declare the petitioner as
qualified for the post of Assistant Professor in the UGC NET
Examination July-2018 on the basis of the Marks secured by the
petitioner and issue National Eligibility Certificate to the petitioner
within the time period stipulated by this Court.
For Petitioner : Mr.T.Lajapathi Roy
For Respondents : Mr.S.Maharajan
Standing Counsel for R1
Mr.P.Karthick
Standing Counsel for RR2 &3
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
ORDER
This writ petition has been filed challenging the impugned
proceedings of the third respondent dated 08.10.2020 and for a
consequential direction to the respondents to consider the candidature of
the petitioner under the OBC category.
2. The petitioner applied for the UGC NET Examination during
July 2018 under the General category. The application submitted by the
petitioner was taken into consideration and the petitioner was also
allowed to take the examination and the petitioner secured 50.67%
marks. According to the petitioner, she belongs to OBC category and she
was not able to apply under this category since the community certificate
was not available at the time when she made the application.
3. The further case of the petitioner is that the cut-off marks for
the OBC category is only 46% and the petitioner has secured 50.67% and
it is well over the cut off mark and the petitioner stands a good chance to
get selected as a OBC candidate.
4. The petitioner therefore made a representation to the
respondents requesting to consider her candidature under the OBC
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
category. The third respondent through the impugned proceedings, dated
08.10.2020, has rejected the claim made by the petitioner. Aggrieved by
the same, the present writ petition has been filed before this Court.
5. Heard Mr.T.Lajapathi Roy, learned counsel appearing on
behalf of the petitioner, Mr.S.Maharajan, learned Standing Counsel
appearing on behalf of the first respondent and Mr.P.Karthick, learned
Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the second and third
respondents.
6. The main ground that has been raised by the learned counsel
for the petitioner is that the mistake committed by the petitioner in not
applying under the OBC category at the time of making the application
should not be put against her and it is a condonable mistake. The learned
counsel in order to substantiate his submissions, brought to the notice of
this Court the earlier order passed by this Court in W.P.(MD).No.9286 of
2020 dated 15.07.2020.
7. Per contra, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the
second and third respondents submitted that the petitioner had
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
consciously applied under the General category and after failing to obtain
the cut-off marks fixed for the General category, now wants to be
considered under the OBC category. Such a change of the category in the
middle of the selection can never be entertained and it will open flood-
gates. The learned counsel in order to substantiate his submissions relied
upon the Division Bench Judgment of this Court in W.A.(MD).No.739 of
2019 dated 23.07.2019.
8. The learned counsel further submitted that an opportunity
was also given to carry out the corrections in the application and even
this opportunity was not utilised by the petitioner and therefore, there are
absolutely no grounds to grant the relief sought for by the petitioner.
9. In the present case, the petitioner had consciously applied
under the General category even at the time when the application was
submitted. The petitioner also wrote the examination and secured
50.67%. At this point of time, the petitioner realised that the cut-off
mark secured by her does not satisfy the minimum requirement in order
to be considered under the General category. Therefore, the petitioner
turned around and wanted her to be considered as OBC candidate since
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
the cut- off mark secured by the petitioner satisfied the cut-off mark fixed
for OBC candidates.
10. The order that was cited by the learned counsel for the
petitioner will not apply to the facts of the present case. In the present
case, it is not as if the petitioner has inadvertently committed the mistake
by choosing her candidature under the General category. This choice was
made by the petitioner consciously. The only reason why the petitioner
wants her to be considered under the OBC category is the marks secured
by the petitioner in the examination. The rules of the game should never
be permitted to be changed in the middle of the game. If such change of
category is permitted in the middle of selection, it will have a cascading
effect and it will open flood-gates. It will always be possible for a
candidate to apply under the General category and later turned around
and seek for contesting on a different category only based on the marks
secured in the examination. This practise cannot be entertained and the
reasons given by the third respondent in the impugned order is perfectly
valid.
11. The Division Bench judgment relied upon by the learned
counsel appearing on behalf of the second and third respondents also
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
makes it clear that whenever a candidate has failed to utilise the
opportunity to make the corrections in the application, a subsequent
request cannot be entertained and a candidate cannot be allowed to shift
from one category to another.
12. In view of the above discussion, this Court does not find
any ground to interfere with the impugned order passed by the third
respondent and the same is hereby sustained. It goes without saying that
it will always be open to the petitioner to participate in the future
selection under the relevant category, if she satisfies all the other
requirements.
13. In the result, this writ petition is dismissed. No Costs.
08.04.2021
Index : Yes / No
Internet : Yes/ No
PJL
Note : In view of the present lock down owing to
COVID-19 pandemic, a web copy of the order
may be utilized for official purposes, but, ensuring
that the copy of the order that is presented is the
correct copy, shall be the responsibility of the
advocate/litigant concerned.
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W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
N.ANAND VENKATESH, J.
PJL
To
1.University Grants Commission,
Represented by its Secretary,
Bahadurshah Marg Road,
New Delhi-11.
2.The Chairperson,
The Central Board of Secondary Education,
(An Autonomous Organisation under the Union Ministry of Human
Resource Development Govt. Of India),
Shiksha Kendra, 2, Community Centre,
Preet Vihar, Delhi-110092.
3.The Secretary (CBSE),
The Central Board of Secondary Education,
PS, 1-2, Institutional Area,
Extension, Patparganj,
Delhi-110092. W.P(MD)No.17295 of 2020
4.The Head,
NET Bureau,
University Grants Commission,
South Campus, University of Delhi,
Benito Juarez Marg,
New Delhi-110 021.
08.04.2021
http://www.judis.nic.in
