Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur

Pramila Choudhary vs State Of Rajasthan (2025:Rj-Jd:11511) on 27 February, 2025

[2025:RJ-JD:11511]

      HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
                       JODHPUR
                     S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 43/2025

Pramila Choudhary D/o Shri Bala Ram Choudhary W/o Shri Arjun
Singh, Aged About 40 Years, Resident Of Street No. 2, Gandhi
Nagar, Near Sabha Bhawan, Barmer, Presently Residing At
4F/94, Shastri Nagar, Jodhpur (Raj.).
                                                                           ----Petitioner
                                       Versus
1.        State Of Rajasthan, Through Its Principal Secretary
          Medical And Health Services, Government-Secretariat,
          Jaipur.
2.        Director (Non-Gazetted), Medical, Health And Family
          Welfare Department, Swasthya Bhawan, Rajasthan,
          Jaipur.
3.        The Director, State Institute Of Health And Family Welfare
          (Sihfw), Jhlana Doongri Colony, Ghat Ki Guni, Jaipur.
4.        The Joint Director, Medical And Health Services, Zone
          Jodhpur, Jodhpur.
5.        The Chief Medical And Health Officer, Jodhpur.
6.        The Rajasthan Nursing Council, Through Its Registrar, B-
          39, Sardar Patel Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur.
                                                                     ----Respondents


For Petitioner(s)            :     Mr. Yash Pal Khileree
For Respondent(s)            :     Mr. Tanuj Jain for
                                   Mr. Mukesh Dave - Dy. G.C.


               HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN MONGA

Order (Oral) 27/02/2025

1. Petitioner herein, an aspirant for the post of Nursing Officer,

inter alia, seeks a direction to the respondents to consider her

candidature under the OBC-NCL category and accord her

appointment pursuant to the advertisement dated 05.05.2023.

2. Briefly speaking, relevant facts first. Vide order dated

28.12.2019 petitioner was appointed on the contractual post of

General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) pursuant to the

advertisement dated 28.01.2026 issued by respondent No. 3 -

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Director, State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW),

Jaipur on the strength of certificate of Rajasthan Nursing Council,

Jaipur dated 18.08.2005.

2.1. The Director, State Institute of Health & Family Welfare

(SIHFW), Jaipur issued an advertisement dated 05.05.2023 for

the recruitment of Nursing Officer under the Rajasthan Medical &

Health Subordinate Service Rules, 1965. Being eligible, petitioner

applied for the same under the OBC-NCL category on 07.06.2023.

The cut-off date for obtaining all the requisite qualifications, as

stated in the application form, is the same as the last date for

submitting the application form i.e. 04.06.2023 but the same was

extended upto 11.06.2023 vide notice dated 03.06.2023. She was

registered with the Rajasthan Nursing Council, Jaipur on

18.08.2005, with validity until 31.12.2024, and applied for

renewal.

2.2. Pursuant to the advertisement dated 05.05.2023, a

provisional merit list was published on 07.10.2023 and the

petitioner was placed at S.No.1654 with application ID No.184499.

On 06.12.2024, the final merit list was published but name of

petitioner was not included in the final merit list on the ground

that she was not registered with the Rajasthan Nursing Council,

Jaipur on the last date of submission of online application form

and the online registration status of the petitioner is shown as

'NOC issued (DeActive)'.

2.3. Despite meeting all requirements, the petitioner's result was

withheld due to pending verification of her registration certificate

from the Rajasthan Nursing Council. Hence, this petition.

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3. In the aforesaid backdrop, I have heard learned counsel for

the petitioner and gone through the case record.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner argues that the action of

the respondents is arbitrary as the registration certificate was

valid until 31.12.2024, and she has already applied for its

renewal.

5. It transpires that the petitioner's case pivots on the ground

that her result has been wrongly withheld despite her having all

the requisite qualifications and certificates, with the only issue

being that her registration certificate from the Rajasthan Nursing

Council is pending verification.

6. In this context, reference may be had to a judgment

rendered by this Court in case titled Rajkumari Chahar Vs.

State of Rajasthan & Ors.: S.B. Civil Writ Petition

No.15010/2023. Relevant extract of the same is reproduced

hereinbelow:-

9. As it happened, the petitioner was granted her registration certificate on 11.08.2023 and she promptly submitted it before the conclusion of the documents verification round. Despite this, her certificate was rejected on the pretext that she did not produce it on 10.08.2023. I find this approach by the respondents not only excessively pedantic, but also indicative of an unwarranted insistence on technicalities. Given their prior communication that document verification would extend until 16.08.2023, they ought not to have rejected the petitioner's certificate, which is otherwise undisputed. On that ground alone, the rejection of the petitioner's candidacy by the respondents is held to be invalid.

10. Pertinently, the advertisement clearly specifies that eligibility is determined based on qualifications i.e. academic qualifications. The registration of the certificate with Homeopathy Board of the state does not necessitate any additional examinations, entrance tests, or interviews.

Therefore, registering after becoming a Homeopathy graduate should not be treated as an additional qualification but rather as a mere technical formality. The registration certificate cannot possibly be treated as a qualification.

Furthermore, to prevent unnecessary litigation, in future, a suggested amendment to the advertisement ought to be carried out, which should ordinarily include a clause stating that appointments will be provisional subject to the candidates producing the required registration certificate within a specified time frame of issuance of appointment letter. Failure to do so, would render their appointment invalid, and the

[2025:RJ-JD:11511] (4 of 5) [CW-43/2025]

opportunity would then be extended to the next meritorious candidate. This would avoid causing unnecessary distress to more meritorious candidates solely on technical grounds.

11. I may hasten to add here in case defense of respondents is to be upheld the same would also result in an incongruous situation where cut off date for producing documents will vary from candidate to candidate depending upon when they are called for verification of the same. Each documents verification day will then be cut off for some, while other would get undue advantage of being called later. As already stated, the advertisement clearly states that the eligibility is to be reckoned as per the qualifications, which appears to be the academic qualifications.

12. Reference may also be had to an earlier judgment of mine, which I had an occasion to render as a puisne judge in Punjab and Haryana High Court, dated 28.01.2022 titled as (Seema Vs. State of Haryana & Ors) in Civil Writ Petition No. 16902/2020. Relevant paras thereof are reproduced herein below-:

"7. It is pertinent to note that the petitioner completed her compulsory rotatory internship under the Indian Medical Council Act before she had applied in pursuance to the advertisement. After the internship, Haryana Medical Council had issued provisional certificate of registration on 26.03.2019 to the petitioner on her successfully qualifying MBBS examination on 27.12.2018. Issuance of provisional certificate to the petitioner vide no. P-9934 dated 26.03.2019 is not disputed. This registration certificate, no doubt, bears a recital that it is only valid for completion of internship for one year from the date of passing of MBBS examination and will not be used for any other purpose. However, no statutory provision has been brought to the notice of the court for any such restriction/prohibition on its use. Being so, the certificate (annexure P/2) of the petitioner's registration on 26.03.2019 with the Haryana medical council seems sufficient for her eligibility as on the cut-off date i.e. 22.01.2020 to apply for the post in question.

8. As stated, the cut-off date of application for the post was 22.01.2020. The petitioner had applied to Delhi Medical council for the registration certificate five days prior thereto. In ordinary course, one is unable to comprehend as to why should the Medical Council sit over the application for grant of the registration when it simply appears to be a mere formality. Neither any merit of the candidate is to be determined before grant of such a certificate nor even otherwise the registration is an additional qualification of any kind which requires scrutiny of the candidate by the Council. In fact, the registration is granted more or less as a matter of right, that too ex-parte, merely by going through the contents of the application for registration form along with the requisite documents appended therewith. In fact, looking at the procedure and the manner in which the registration is granted, it rather seems fair and equitable to opine that once, the registration is accorded, for the purpose of determining eligibility to apply for the post of Medical Officer, it should enure from the date of the application itself and the mere formality of the date which is put on the certificate, is simply to be read as date of issuance of the certificate but in reality, effective from the date of applying under the requisite proforma of the application. In any case the petitioner should not suffer for the procedural delay on the part of the Medical Council in the grant of registration."

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7. As already held in judgment ibid, the registration certificate

constitutes a mere ministerial formality, rather than a substantive

qualification. No examination or interview is conducted in this

regard; instead, it is granted solely based on the applicant's

academic qualifications.

8. In the premise, respondents are directed to forthwith carry

out the pending verification of the registration certificate through

electronic mode i.e. e-mail or WhatsApp or telephone etc. within a

period of 30 days upon the petitioner approaching the competent

authority of the respondents with a web-print copy of the instant

order. Till then, one post in question in the category petitioner

applied shall not be filled up as already ordered vide interim order

dated 03.01.2025 passed by this Court.

9. If the registration certificate was valid on the cut off date,

benefit be given, if not, petitioner be given provisional

appointment subject to undertaking that she shall submit renewed

certificate upon its being supplied and till then she will not be

confirmed in service. Needless to say that if otherwise found

meritorious, petitioner shall be offered appointment on the post in

question, with effect from the date as the other successful

candidates, who applied pursuant to the same advertisement were

given appointment.