Asha Kumari vs The State Of Bihar
2021 Latest Caselaw 228 Patna

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                   Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.7205 of 2020
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Asha Kumari Daughter of Gopal Ram Resident of Sector 2-D, Quarter No. 1/203, Bokaro Steel City, District- Bokaro, Pin Code- 827001, Jharkhand.

... ... Petitioner/s Versus

1. The State of Bihar through its Principal Secretary, Department of Education, Government of Bihar, Patna.

2. The Principal Secretary, Department of Education, Government of Bihar, Patna.

3. The Director, Department of Higher Education, Government of Bihar, Patna.

4. The Bihar Public Service Commission through its Secretary having office at Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg (Bailey Road), Patna.

5. The Chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission, Bihar, Patna.

6. The Secretary, Bihar Public Service Commission, Bihar, Patna.

7. The Joint Secretary-cum- Examination Controller, Bihar Public Service Commission, Bihar, Patna.

8. The Vice Chancellor, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, Chattisgarh, India.

9. The Registrar, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, Chattisgarh, India.

... ... Respondent/s ====================================================== Appearance :

     For the Petitioner/s   :      Mr.Ravindra Kumar Singh
     For the Respondent/s   :      Mr.Vivek Anand Amritesh (AC to SC 28)
     For the B.P.S.C.       :      Mr.P.N. Shahi (Sr. Advocate) with
                            :      Mr. Sanjay Pandey
                            :      Mr.Nishant Kumar Jha

====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE CHAKRADHARI SHARAN SINGH ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 21-01-2021

The facts which are not in dispute in the present

proceeding under Article 226 of the Constitution of India are that

pursuant to an advertisement issued vide Advt. No. 03 of 2016 by

the Bihar Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as

the B.P.S.C.) inviting applications for the post of Lecturer in Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

Physical and Health Education, the petitioner had applied as a

Scheduled Caste category candidate. Qualification of M.P. Ed. was

prescribed as one of the minimum eligibility criteria prescribed for

the post in the advertisement. A written examination was held, in

which, the petitioner, among various other candidates was declared

successful. The B.P.S.C. thereafter came out with an interview

programme on 26.05.2020 for the candidates, who were declared

successful in the written examination. Clause 3 of the interview

programme clearly prescribed that the candidates would be obliged

to bring all certificates in original for the purpose of verification

with two self attested copies thereof. As per the interview

programme, a copy of which has been brought on record by way

of Annexure D to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the

B.P.S.C., the original degree certificate of having acquired post-

graduation in Physical and Health Education (M.P. Ed.) was one of

such certificates which a candidate was required to produce at the

time of interview. It was categorically mentioned in the note under

Clause 3 of the interview programme that the certificates relating

to educational qualification to be submitted at the time of

interview must have been issued on or before the last date of

submission of application forms. A separate interview letter was

issued to the petitioner wherein the requirements of submission of Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

original certificates at the time of interview, as mentioned in the

interview programme, were reiterated. It was also reiterated in the

note below clause 2 of the interview letter that all educational

certificates to be produced for verification must have been issued

on or before the last date of submission of application form i.e.

22.06.2016. The petitioner was required to participate in the

interview before the B.P.S.C. on 24.06.2020.

2. This is not in dispute that the petitioner did not have

in her possession the original certificate in support of having

obtained M.P. Ed. Degree. This is also not in dispute that till the

said date of 22.06.2016, the degree certificate was, as a matter of

fact, not issued by the University (Guru Ghasidas

Vishwavidyalaya, Bilaspur, Chattisgarh), from where the petitioner

claimed to have pursued her course.

3. The petitioner appeared for the interview. The final

result of the interview was published on 04.07.2020 based on

which the recommendations were made by the B.P.S.C. whereafter

appointments have been made. The petitioner's name was not

recommended as she had failed to produce original M.P. Ed.

certificate though she had with her the mark-sheet of having

passed the examination, original of which she had produced at the

time of interview. It is the petitioner's case that candidates with Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

inferior merit have been recommended for appointment against

vacancy reserved for Scheduled Caste category candidates and

petitioner's candidature has been rejected merely on the ground

that she failed to produce her original M.P. Ed. Degree certificate

at the time of interview. In the background of the aforesaid facts

that the petitioner has sought for a direction to the B.P.S.C. for

consideration of her case for selection, as according to her,

rejection of her candidature on technical ground of non-submission

of original degree certificate in Physical and Health Education

(M.P. Ed.) at the time of interview is wholly unjustified, illegal

arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of

India. She is seeking a direction to the B.P.S.C. to publish her

result for the post of Lecturer in question after allowing her

reasonable opportunity to produce in original, the said certificate.

The petitioner has, however, admitted that she could not get the

said certificate at the time of interview despite the fact that she had

already applied for the same but it was mainly because of

complete lockdown in force all over the country, consequent upon

the outbreak of COVID-19.

4. The facts stated in the writ petition clearly show that

even on the date of filing of the writ petition, the petitioner did not

have in her possession, the original of M.P. Ed. degree Certificate. Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

Counter affidavits have been filed on behalf of B.P.S.C. and the

State of Bihar. A rejoinder affidavit has also been filed on behalf of

the petitioner to the counter affidavit filed on behalf of the B.P.S.C.

5. Mr. Ravindra Kumar Singh, learned counsel

appearing on behalf of the petitioner has relied on a Supreme

Court's decision in case of Ram Kumar Gijroya v. Delhi Sub.

Services Selection Board and Another reported in (2016) 4 SCC

754, Union Public Service Commission v. Dheerender Singh

Paliwal reported in (2017) 11 SCC 276 to contend that on trivial

ground of non-production of certificates in original at the time of

interview, the petitioner's candidature itself could not have been

rejected by the B.P.S.C. He has placed reliance on a coordinate

Bench decision of this Court reported in 2019 (3) P.L.J.R. 466 in

support of his contention. Reliance has also been placed on an

unreported Division Bench decision of this Court in case of

Central Selection Board of Constable v. Sushant Kumar Pandey

wherein rejection of candidature of a candidate on the ground of

non-production of matriculation original certificate at the time of

process of selection for verification was not approved. He has

submitted that it was because of extraordinary pandemic situation

prevailing thorough out the country that the petitioner could not

take effective steps for obtaining original M.P. Ed. Degree Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

certificate from the University. He has further submitted that this

humane aspect ought to have been considered by the B.P.S.C. and

the B.P.S.C. should have given the petitioner a reasonable time to

produce the said degree certificate in original.

6. Mr. Sanjay Pandey, learned counsel representing the

B.P.S.C. on the other hand has contended that admittedly the

petitioner did not have M.P. Ed. Degree certificate issued by the

University on or before the last date of submission of application

form. It was categorically mentioned in the interview programme

and the interview letter that candidates must produce their original

certificates for verification issued on or before the last date of

submission of application form i.e. 22.06.2016. He has submitted

that the B.P.S.C. could not have awaited issuance of original

certificates by the respective Universities/Institutions for the

candidates to submit them as that would have adversely affected

and seriously jeopardized the entire process of selection. There

was a definite prescription in the interview programme and the

interview letter that such certificates must have been issued on or

before the last date of submission of application forms. He has

argued that a selection process has to be conducted in accordance

with the stipulated selection process which needs to be

scrupulously maintained. He has heavily relied on a full Bench Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

decision of this Court in Braj Kishore Prasad v. The State of

Bihar and others reported in 1998 (3) P.L.J.R. 34. Relying on a

division Bench decision of this Court in case of Dr. Santosh

Kumar v. The State of Bihar and others reported 2017 (1)

P.L.J.R. 786 he has submitted that since admittedly the petitioner

did not have the requisite certificate at any point of time, the

B.P.S.C. had no other option but to reject the petitioner's

candidature. He has also placed reliance on a recent decision of

this Court dated 04.01.2021 rendered in C.W.J.C. No. 7661 of

2020 (Pankaj Kumar v. The State of Bihar and others) in support

of his submission.

7. This is to be noted that it is an admitted fact that the

petitioner did not have the required original certificate in her

possession by the last date of submission of application form on

22.06.2016. The plea that outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic

restricted the petitioner to pursue her case with the University to

obtain the certificate is not at all acceptable to this Court, as the

last date of submission of application was 22.06.2016, much

before the outbreak of pandemic. There was no extraordinary

situation prevailing which had prevented the petitioner from

obtaining her original certificate from the University after she is

said to have acquired the qualification. The decision of this Court Patna High Court CWJC No.7205 of 2020 dt.21-01-2021

in case of Pankaj Kumar (supra) is direct answer to the

submissions made on behalf of the petitioner. The division Bench

decision in case of Central Selection Board of Constable v.

Sushant Kumar Pandey (supra) does not support the petitioner's

case since in that case benefit of doubt was given to the writ

petitioner on rival contentions of submission of matriculation

certificate at the relevant stage of the process of selection. The

petitioner of that case was in possession of the requisite certificate

and the dispute had arisen as to whether he had submitted the same

at the time of selection or not. In the present case, the petitioner

did not have the certificate at all and, therefore, there was no

question of presentation of original certificate at the time of

interview.

8. In such view of the matter, I do not find any merit in

this writ application.

9. This writ application is accordingly dismissed.

(Chakradhari Sharan Singh, J) AKASH/-

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Uploading Date          28.01.2021
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