Madras High Court
The Member Secretary vs S.Chitra on 30 June, 2021
W.A.No.26 of 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 30.06.2021
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MRS.JUSTICE PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA
and
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY
W.A.No.26 of 2021
and
C.M.P.No.427 of 2021
The Member Secretary,
Teachers Recruitment Board,
E.V.K. Sampath Maligai,
4th Floor, DPI Campus,
College Road,
Chennai – 600 006. .. Appellant
Vs.
S.Chitra .. Respondent
Prayer: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent to set aside
the order dated 17.02.2020 made in W.P.No.2275 of 2020.
For Appellant : Mr.C.Jayaprakash
Government Advocate
For Respondent : M/s.T.Padmanabhan
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W.A.No.26 of 2021
JUDGMENT
[delivered by PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, J.]
The appeal is directed against the order of learned Single
Judge made in W.P.No.2275 of 2020, wherein, a direction was given to
the appellant to consider the representations of the writ petitioner and
verify the original disability certificate of the writ petitioner and consider
her candidature for the post of Computer Instructor Grade-I under the
disability quota.
2. The appellant had called for applications for the post of
Computer Instructors Grade-I (Post Graduate cadre). The writ petitioner,
who has been suffering from hearing impairment, had applied for the said
post under the disability quota. At the time of making the application on-
line, the writ petitioner did not have the original disability certificate, which
was lost and therefore, she was unable to upload the same. Thereafter,
the writ petitioner was allowed to participate in the written examination
and secured 81.83 marks. In the meanwhile, she received her original
disability certificate through post. When the writ petitioner was called for
certificate verification, she had categorically explained the reason why she
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W.A.No.26 of 2021
could not upload the original disability certificate at the time of submitting
the application. Consequently, the provisional selection list that was
published on 11.01.2020 did not contain the name of the writ petitioner.
Hence, the writ petition was filed to process the application made by the
petitioner for selection to the post of Computer Instructors Grade-I under
the disability quota (hearing impairment).
3. The learned Government Advocate appearing on behalf of
the appellant would submit that the post of Computer Instructors Grade-I
(Post Graduate cadre) reserved under the category of hearing impairment
for the communal roster B.C. as well as G.T. are yet to be filled up. The
writ petitioner is claiming under both the categories. The learned
Government Advocate also points out that in the original application in the
column “Are you Differently-abled?”, the writ petitioner had mentioned as
'No”. Hence, the learned Government Advocate would argue that having
not applied under the physically disabled quota, the writ petitioner is
precluded from claiming any right under the same.
4. Heard the learned Government Advocate appearing for the
appellant and the learned counsel appearing for the respondent.
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W.A.No.26 of 2021
5. It is not in dispute that the writ petitioner is physically
disabled due to her hearing impairment. The original disability certificate
has also been produced, which was verified by the learned single Judge.
Having satisfied with the genuineness of the said certificate, the Writ Court
had directed the respondent to once again do the verification of the
disability certificate and accommodate the writ petitioner under the
hearing impairment category, if otherwise she is qualified for the same. As
there is a vacancy and the same is yet to be filled up, the appellant was
directed to consider her representation after verifying the original
disability certificate and appoint her in the said post.
6. The applications are submitted on-line. There is every
possibility of a mistake cropping up, when it is being uploaded from e-
Seva Kendra or even by a person uploading documents by himself or
herself. Admittedly, once the document is uploaded and submitted, there
is no provision to re-call the same and make any corrections. Even, for
genuine mistake that may occur, there is no process of reversal. In
addition to that interruption in power supply and also the Internet
connectivity in many of the places, especially, in remote villages of the
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W.A.No.26 of 2021
Southern Districts, are quite common. These kind of external hindrances
should not be allowed to stand in the way of a person competing for a
Government job. The case on hand is one classic example of the same.
This is not the first occasion, where this Bench has come across such kind
of an error in uploading the documents or particulars. There have been
errors, where a same document is uploaded twice by mistake and went
unnoticed. Some of the candidates, for uploading the document, are
taking assistance or depends on the person in-charge of the e-Seva
Centre in uploading the documents. During such course of time, for any
mistake, either man made or machine made, the applicant has to suffer.
When the applications are invited on-line, there should be some provision
for such kind of exigencies. Otherwise genuine candidates will be losing an
opportunity to enter into public service.
7. In view of the above, we are inclined to confirm the order
of the learned Single Judge and direct the appellant to consider the
representations of the petitioner dated 13.01.2020 and 24.01.2020 within
a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, in
terms of the order of the learned Single Judge.
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W.A.No.26 of 2021
PUSHPA SATHYANARAYANA, J.
and
KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J.
rsi
8. With the above observations, the writ petition is dismissed.
No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
[P.S.N. J.] [K.R. J.]
30.06.2021
Index : Yes / No
Internet : Yes/No
Speaking / Non-speaking order
rsi
W.A.No.26 of 2021
and
C.M.P.No.427 of 2021
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