Madras High Court
U.Kaviyarasan … vs Tamil Nadu Public Service ... on 20 March, 2023
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 20.03.2023
CORAM
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.D. AUDIKESAVALU
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
and
W.M.P. Nos. 7211, 7578, 7582, 8326 and 8435 of 2023
W.P. No. 7141 of 2023:-
U.Kaviyarasan … Petitioner
-vs-
1. Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
Represented by the Secretary
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
2. The Controller of Examinations
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
... Respondents
Prayer:- Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
1950, praying to issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the Respondents to
disclose the reasons for not including the register number 1901002075 of the
Petitioner in the list of candidates provisionally admitted to onscreen certificate
verification for the posts included in Combined Engineering Services pursuant
to Notification No. 10/2022 dated 04.04.2022 to enable the Petitioner to rectify
technical defects, if any, in his online application to enable the Petitioner to
participate in the oral interview scheduled to be held on 08.03.2023 or any
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
other subsequent date and the counselling under the Persons Studied in Tamil
Medium (PSTM) quota for the posts included in the Combined Engineering
Services.
W.P. No. 7486 of 2023:-
M. Saravana Kumar … Petitioner
-vs-
1. Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
Represented by the Secretary
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
2. The Controller of Examinations
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003. ... Respondents
Prayer:- Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
1950, praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, calling for the
records of the Second Respondent herein in his list dated 22.02.2023 and the
Annexure thereto, by which the online Application of the Petitioner was
rejected for various reasons, quash the same in so far as it relates to the
rejection of the online Application of the Petitioner (Application) No.
2210015397: Register No. 1805003103) and issue consequential directions to
the Respondents herein to allow the Petitioner to attend oral test for selection
by direct recruitment to the posts included in the Combined Engineering
Services to be held from 08.03.2023 to 23.03.2023 or any other subsequent
date.
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
W.P. No. 8059 of 2023:-
D.Dharmaraj … Petitioner
-vs-
1. Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
Represented by the Secretary
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
2. The Controller of Examinations
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
... Respondents
Prayer:- Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India,
1950, praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus, to call for the
records pertaining to impugned list dated 22.02.2023 published by the Second
Respondent in pursuant to Notification No.10/2022 dated 04.04.2022 for posts
included in Combined Engineering Services and quash the same in respect of
rejection of the Petitioner and consequently direct the Respondents to include
the Petitioner Register No. 2501008144 in the list of provisionally admittted to
oral test for the posts included in Combined Engineering Services.
For Petitioner
in W.P. No.7141 of 2023: Mrs. Nalini Chidambaram
Senior Counsel
for Mrs. C.Uma
For Petitioner in W.P. : Mr. D.Baskar
No. 7486 of 2023
For Petitioner in
W.P. No.8059 of 2023 : Mr. T.Muthukrishnan
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
For Respondents
in all W.Ps : Mr. J.Ravindran,
Additional Advocate General
Assisted by Mr.R.Bharanidharan
COMMON ORDER
Heard Mrs. Nalini Chidambaram, Learned Senior Counsel for the
Petitioners in W.P. No.7141 of 2023, Mr. D.Baskar, Learned Counsel for the
Petitioner in W.P. No. 7486 of 2023, Mr. T.Muthukrishnan, Learned Counsel
for the Petitioners in W.P. No. 8059 of 2023 and Mr. J.Ravindran, Learned
Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr. R.Bharanidharan, Learned
Counsel appearing for the Respondents in all the Writ Petitions and perused the
materials placed on record, apart from the pleadings of the parties.
2. The Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, which is the Respondent in
these Writ Petitions, had by Advertisement No. 613 issued Notification No. 10
of 2022 dated 04.04.2022 inviting applications from eligible candidates only
through online mode upto 03.05.2022 for direct recruitment to the vacancies in
the post of Combined Engineering Services.
3. The Petitioners in these Writ Petitions had applied online in furtherance
to the said notification, but their register numbers had not been included in the
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
list of provisionally admitted candidates to on-screen certificate verification
published on 22.02.2023 in the official website of the Respondent based on the
results of the written examination conducted on 02.07.2022. Complaining that
no reasons had been assigned for not having included their names in the said
list, the Petitioners have invoked the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court
under Article 226 of the Constitution for appropriate directions.
4. It has been demonstrated before this Court by the Respondent that as the
Petitioners have not uploaded certain essential documents in support of their
respective claims for reservation in the notified vacancies, their applications
have been rejected, and instead of submitting those required documents within
the prescribed time, they have furnished some other documents. The specific
details in that regard are shown in the self-explanatory tabular statement
below:-
S. No. W.P. No. Name of the Date of Required document Document wrongly
Petitioner filing of (which has not been uploaded (instead of
Writ uploaded) required document)
Petition
1. 7141 of 2023 U.Kaviyarasan 03.03.2023 PSTM certificate for PSTM certificate for
Classes XI and XII Classes IX and X
2. 7486 of 2023 M.Saravana 07.03.2023 Community Certificate for Class
Kumar Certificate XII
3. 8059 of 2023 D.Dharmaraj 13.03.2023 PSTM certificate for Mark-Sheet for Classes
Classes X and XII X and XII
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
The rejection of the applications of the said Petitioners is justified by the
Respondent relying on the following clauses incorporated in the recruitment
notification:-
"Clause 5 of the 'WARNING' mentioned in page 1 of the
notification.
In respect of recruitment to this post, the applicants shall
mandatorily upload the certificates/documents (in support of
all the claims made/details furnished in the online application)
at the time of submission of online application itself. It shall be
ensured by the applicants that the online application shall not
be submitted without uploading the required certificates.
Specifically for candidates claiming PSTM:
Clause 12(B) [internal page page 18] second clause in
example
If the prescribed educational qualification is degree,
then the candidate should have studied from the First Standard
to SSLC, Higher Secondary Course and Degree through Tamil
Medium of instruction. (Refer para 14 (R) of Instructions to
Applicants).
Clause 12 (iv), (v) and (vi)
(iv) If no such document as evidence for 'PSTM' is
available, a certificate from the Principal / Head Master /
District Educational Officer / Chief Educational Officer /
District Adi Dravidar Welfare Officer / Controller of
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
Examinations / Head / Director of Educational Institution /
Director / Joint Director of Technical Education / Register of
Universities, as the case may be, in the prescribed format must
be uploaded at the time of submission of online applications,
for each and every educational qualification up to the
educational qualification prescribed.
(v) Failure to upload such documents at the time of
submission of online application as evidence for 'Persons
Studied in Tamil Medium' for all 19 educational qualification
up to the educational qualification prescribed, shall result in
the rejection of candidature after due process.
(vi) Documents uploaded at the time of submission of
online application as proof of having studied in Tamil Medium,
for the partial duration of any course / private appearance at
any examination, shall not be accepted and shall result in the
rejection of candidature after due process.
(For further details refer to para. 14 (R) of the “Instructions to
Applicants”)
(Clause 12 (I) and (L)
[internal page 20 and 21]
(I) Evidence for all the claims made in the online application
should be uploaded at the time of submission of online
application. Any subsequent claim made after submission of
online application will not be entertained. Failure to upload
the documents at the time of submission of online application
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
will entail rejection of application after due process.
(L) Incomplete applications and applications containing wrong
claims or incorrect particulars relating to category of
reservation / eligibility / age / gender / communal category /
educational qualification / medium of instruction / physical
qualification / other basic qualifications and other basic
eligibility criteria will be summarily rejected after due process.
Clause 15 and 16
[internal page 25 and 26]
15. UPLOAD OF DOCUMENTS:
(a) In respect of recruitment to this post, the candidates shall
mandatorily upload the certificates / documents (in support of
all the claims made / details furnished in the online
application) at the time of submission of online application
itself. It shall be ensured that the online application shall not
be submitted by the candidates without mandatorily uploading
the required certificates.
(b) The applicants shall have the option of verifying the
uploaded certificates through their OTR. If any of the
credentials have wrongly been uploaded or not uploaded or if
any modifications are to be done in the uploading of
documents, the applicants shall be permitted to edit and upload
/ re-upload the documents till two days prior to the prior to the
date of examination)
Refer Annexure V for the list of documents to be uploaded by
the Applicants”
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
16. LAST DATE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION:
Online applications can be submitted / edited upto 03.05.2022
till 11.59 p.m. after which the link will be disabled and the
uploaded documents can be re-uploaded upto 14.06.2022 till
11.59 p.m. (For detailed information, applicants may refer to
the “Instructions to Applicants” at the Commission's website
www.tnpsc.gov.in).”
It has been submitted that compliance of the aforesaid instructions are
mandatory, which cannot be relaxed so as to extend the timeline. Reliance in
this regard is placed on decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the
Sanjay K. Dixit -vs- State of Uttar Pradesh [(2019) 17 SCC 373] and State of
Tamil -vs- G.Hemalathaa [(2020) 19 SCC 430] and the Division Bench of this
Court in P.Prabu -vs- V.Arunkumar (Order dated 11.03.2020 passed in W.A.
No. 4318 of 2019).
5. In order to test the validity of the procedure followed by the Respondent
in rejecting the applications for not submitting the required documents, it would
be necessary to recapitulate the legal position relating to permissibility to
produce documents in support of any claim for reservation in a recruitment
process. After referring to the decision in Charles K.Skaria -vs- Dr. C.Mathew
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
[(1980) 2 SCC 752], it has been succinctly observed by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court of India in Dolly Chhanda -vs- Chairman, JEE [(2005) 9 SCC 779] as
follows:-
“ 7. The general rule is that while applying for any course of
study or a post, a person must possess the eligibility qualification
on the last date fixed for such purpose either in the admission
brochure or in application form, as the case may be, unless there
is an express provision to the contrary. There can be no
relaxation in this regard i.e. in the matter of holding the requisite
eligibility qualification by the date fixed. This has to be
established by producing the necessary certificates, degrees or
marksheets. Similarly, in order to avail of the benefit of
reservation or weightage, etc. necessary certificates have to be
produced. These are documents in the nature of proof of holding
of particular qualification or percentage of marks secured or
entitlement to benefit of reservation. Depending upon the facts of
a case, there can be some relaxation in the matter of submission
of proof and it will not be proper to apply any rigid principle as it
pertains in the domain of procedure. Every infraction of the rule
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
relating to submission of proof need not necessarily result in
rejection of candidature.”
It is contended by Learned Counsel appearing for the respective Petitioners that
the Petitioners have attained the requisite qualifications even before the last
date for submission of online applications which are evidenced by copies of
those documents produced in these Writ Petitions.
6. At this juncture, it has to be noticed that the reasons for rejection of the
applications of the respective Petitioners had not been disclosed by the
Respondent till 22.02.2023 when the list of eligible candidates for on-screen
certificate verification was published. It is needless to point out here that the
Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in State of Orissa -vs- Binapani Dei (AIR
1967 SC 1269) has categorically ruled that any administrative decision
entailing adverse civil consequences must be made consistently with the rules
of natural justice by informing the person concerned of the case against him
with the evidence in support thereof and after giving him an opportunity of
being heard for meeting or explaining such evidence. Viewed from that
perspective, it was certainly incumbent upon the Respondents to have informed
the concerned applicants about their failure to upload the required documents in
proof of their claim for reservation in the notified vacancies of the post and it is
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
only in the event that they do not comply with the same within the specified
time limit thereafter that they could be denied of their entitlement to be
considered against such category of reservation claimed by them. In the
absence of any such exercise having been undertaken by the Respondent in that
regard, it is not possible to sustain impugned action of the Respondent in
straightaway rejecting the applications of the respective Petitioners in these
cases.
7. The mandatory clauses in the recruitment notification mentioned supra,
which are, no doubt, sacrosanct and binding on the candidates, cannot be
stringently construed as empowering the Respondent to arbitrarily reject the
application of the candidates without informing them of the reasons for the
same and providing them of the opportunity to rectify the defects within a
specified time limit. It would assume significance here that there is nothing to
infer from the subsequent decision of Two Judges Benches of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court of India in Sanjay K. Dixit -vs- State of Uttar Pradesh [(2019)
17 SCC 373] cited by the Respondent that the earlier authoritative
pronouncement of the Larger Bench of Three Judges of the Hon'ble Supreme
Court of India in Dolly Chhanda -vs- Chairman, JEE [(2005) 9 SCC 752]
referred supra had been brought to the notice of the Court while deciding that
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
case. The decision in State of Tamil Nadu -vs- G.Hemalathaa [(2020) 19 SCC
430] which pertains to markings made in the answer-sheet that has been
followed in P.Prabu -vs- V.Arunkumar (Order dated 11.03.2020 passed in
W.A. No. 4318 of 2019) has nothing to do with production of supporting
documents as in this case. Moreover, the non-disclosure of the reason for
rejection of the online applications of the candidates, which directly arises for
consideration in these cases, does not appear to be the controversy involved in
the decisions relied by the Respondents, which is certainly a distinguishing
factor that would have to be taken into consideration. In this backdrop, it must
be pointed out that the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Regional Manager
-vs- Pawan Kumar Dubey [(1976) 3 SCC 334] has highlighted that it is the rule
deducible from the application of law to the facts and circumstances of a case
which constitutes its ratio decidendi and not some conclusion based upon facts
which may appear to be similar. One additional or different fact can make a
world of difference between conclusions in two cases even when the same
principles are applied in each case to similar facts. The Constitution Bench of
the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Padma Sundara Rao (Dead) -vs- State
of Tamil Nadu [(2002) 3 SCC 533] has aptly ruled in this regard as follows:-
“ Courts should not place reliance on decisions without
discussing as to how the factual situations fits in with the fact
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
situation of the decision on which reliance is placed. There is
always peril in treating the words of a speech or judgment as
though they are words in a legislative enactment, and it is to be
remembered that judicial utterances are made in the setting of
the facts of a particular case, said Lord Morris in Herrington
Vs. British Railways Board (1972) 2 WLR 537. Circumstantial
flexibility, one additional or different fact may make a world of
difference between conclusions in two cases.”
8. It is not possible to countenance the reluctance expressed by the
Respondent that it would amount to relaxation of the rules governing the
recruitment process without reserving such power either in the recruitment
notification or providing for the same in the relevant service rules by permitting
the candidates to produce the required documents after the time limit prescribed
for the same in the recruitment notification. It cannot be gainsaid that Articles
14 and 16 of the Constitution have guaranteed equality of opportunity to all
eligible citizens to compete in the recruitment process in public employment
and the endeavour of the State always has to be to select the best talent by
comparative assessment of their inter se merit. The purpose of computerization
is to eliminate arbitrariness and promote transparency in expeditiously
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
conducting the recruitment process and cannot be used to defeat the
pre-existing rights that have accrued to the competing candidates. The decision
making process adopted by the Respondent in this case is patently faulty
insofar as it relates to the rejection of the applications of the candidates, like the
Petitioners, who had not uploaded documents in proof of their claim under
respective categories of reservation, without providing them any chance to
submit the required documents after informing them of the same, as it results in
not only enabling persons of lesser merit than them to get selected, but also
unfairly deprives them of their legitimate right to be treated as general
candidates for consideration under open competition, if they are found entitled.
It is the failure of the Respondent to disclose the reasons for rejecting the
application of the candidates which necessitates this Court to require the
Respondent to immediately correct such palpable error at the earliest point of
time when it has been timely brought to judicial notice before the recruitment
process has been completed, and any resistance by the Respondent to carry out
the same would obviously vitiate the recruitment itself and unnecessarily delay
the selection.
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
9. In the list of register numbers of the candidates provisionally admitted to
on-screen certificate verification published on 22.02.2023, it has been
mentioned as follows:-
"Based on the outcome of onscreen certificate verification, the
register numbers of candidates mentioned below have been
provisionally admitted to Oral Test in the ratio of 1:2/1:3 based
on the marks obtained by the candidates in the Written
Examination and with reference to rule of reservation of
appointments. The Oral Test will be held from 08.03.2023 to
23.03.2023 at the office of the Tamil Nadu Public Service
Commission, TNPSC Road, Chennai – 600003. The candidates
should attend the Oral Test with all original certificates in
support of the claims made in their online applications.
The above details will be made available in the Commission's
website and the candidates will be informed of the above fact
only through SMS and E-mail accordingly. Individual
Communication regarding the date and time of Oral Test /
Certificate Verification and Oral Test will not be sent to the
candidates by post."
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
This Court during the hearing on 16.03.2023 had passed the following
self-explanatory interim order:-
“ Heard Learned Counsel for Parties.
2. Though the Respondents are not precluded from
proceeding further to complete the recruitment process, the
publication of the final result shall await further orders from
this Court.
Post these matters for orders on 20.03.2023.”
In cases of this nature, it is also necessary to ensure that when a particular set of
persons, like the Petitioners, are given relief by the Court, other identically
situated persons, who have not approached the Court need to be treated alike by
extending the same benefits, as not doing so would amount to discrimination in
breach of the guarantee provided under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution
as held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in State of Uttar Pradesh -vs-
Arvind Kumar Srivastava [(2015) 1 SCC 347].
10. The upshot of the forgoing discussion is that the Writ Petitions are
ordered on the following terms:-
(i) the Respondent shall forthwith inform through SMS, e-mail and
publication in its official website to all those candidates (including the
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
Petitioners) whose online applications have been rejected for failure to
upload the required documents in support of their claim under the
respective categories of reservation, to appear for oral interview along
with originals of all required documents on specified dates for
verification, and consider them for appointment as if their names had
been included in the list of candidates provisionally admitted to
on-screen certificate verification;
(ii) in the event of the said candidates failing to produce the required
documents on the specified dates, they shall be treated as general
candidates entitled to participate in the recruitment in open competition
category;
(iii) the final result of the impugned recruitment shall be published only
after carrying out the aforesaid exercise;
(iv) consequently, the connected miscellaneous petitions are closed; and
(v) there shall be no order as to costs.
20.03.2023
kv/Maya 4/4
Index: Yes/No
Speaking /Non-Speaking order
Neutral Citation: Yes/No
Note: Issue order copy by 21.03.2023.
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486 and 8059 of 2023
P.D. AUDIKESAVALU, J.
kv
To
1. The Secretary
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
2. The Controller of Examinations
Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission
TNPSC Road, V.O.C. Nagar
Park Town, Chennai – 600 003.
W.P. Nos. 7141, 7486, and 8059 of 2023
20.03.2023
