Abhishek Singh And Ors vs Union Of India Through Its Secretary

The petitioners have preferred the present writ petition for directing the respondents to stay the operation of recruitment process published under

notification dated 18.09.2017, issued for the selection to be made on the post of Gramin Dak Sevaks till the respondents give opportunity to the

petitioners to fill up the on line forms, who have passed matriculate / 10th examination from the Bihar Sanskrict Shiksha Board (hereinafter referred to

as the ‘B.S.B.B.’), Patna and to quash the notification / advertisement which is based on serious discrimination.

The short facts of the case are that on line applications for appointment to the post of Gramin Dak Sevaks, Bihar Circle in the present case, were

invited vide notification dated 18.09.2017 and the minimum prescribed educational qualification was that the candidates should have passed 10th

standard from approved State Boards by the respective State Governments / Central Government, State wise list whereof, of the approved Boards

was annexed as Annexure-A to the said notification. Annexure-A of the said notification dated 18.09.2017, though mentions the Bihar School

Examination Board, Patna as an approved Board, however, the B.S.S.B., Patna is not one of such approved Board, hence the petitioners herein could

not apply in the said recruitment process since they were possessing 10th pass certificate from the B.S.S.B., Patna.

The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the B.S.S.B., Patna has been granted membership by the council of Boards of School Education in

India, Delhi (hereinafter referred to as the “C.O.B.S.E.â€) and the C.O.B.S.E. has certified vide its letter dated 05.10.2012 that the Madhyma

certificates issued by the B.S.S.B., Patna would have equivalence to secondary (Matriculation) certificates of other member Boards across the

country. It is submitted that the respondents cannot discriminate amongst two Boards i.e. while it is recognizing the Bihar School Examination Board, it

has failed to recognize the B.S.S.B., Patna as an approved Board, thus the same amounts to violation of the provisions contained in Articles 14, 15 and

16 of the Constitution of India. The learned counsel for the petitioners has also relied on the unreported judgment dated 04.12.2017 passed by the

Hon’ble Allahabad High Court in Writ-(A) No. 57732 of 2017 in the case of Ajay Kumar Sharma and another vs. Union of India and others

wherein the Chief Postmaster General, U.P. Postal Circle at Lucknow had been directed to upload the software showing that the candidates having

passed Purva, Madhyma are also eligible for the purposes of applying to the post of Gramin Dak Sevak, on the basis that the Purva, Madhyma

certificate issued by the U.P. Board of Sanskrit Education at Lucknow has been notified by the Ministry of H.R.D., Government of India by its

notification dated 23.02.2010 to be equivalent to Class-10.

Per contra, the learned counsel for the respondents has submitted that the entire process of submission of application forms on line is already over,

hence the petitioners are not entitled to any relief. It is further submitted that the requisite educational qualification is matriculation / 10th standard pass

from approved State Boards by the respective State Governments / Central Government as per the State wise list of approved Boards as per

Annexure-A to the aforesaid notification dated 18.09.2017 and since B.S.S.B., Patna is not one of the approved Board as per Annexure-A to the

aforesaid notification, the petitioners are not eligible to apply to the aforesaid recruitment process.

I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and gone through the materials on record. The recruitment notification dated 18.09.2017 specifies that

the candidates who have passed the 10th standard from approved State Boards by the respective State Governments / Central Government, list

whereof has been given at Annexure-A would be eligible for making application. The petitioners have produced a certificate issued by C.O.B.S.E.

dated 05.10.2012 to contend that the Madhyma certificates issued by the B.S.S.B., Patna is equivalent to secondary (matriculation) certificates of

other member Boards across the country, however, the fact remains that the said C.O.B.S.E. is a voluntary association of the Board of School

Education in India and provides academic support to its member Boards. The petitioners have failed to produce any evidence to the effect that the

said C.O.B.S.E. has been either been authorized by the State Governemnt or the Central Government to recognize the various Boards in India and

grant certificates to the said effect, hence no value can be attached to the certificate of C.O.B.S.E. produced by the petitioners and that too dated

05.10.2012. The petitioners have failed to bring anything on record to show that the Madhyma certificates issued by the B.S.S.B., Patna have

equivalence to secondary / matriculation / 10th standard certificates of the other recognized Boards. In fact such certificates / notification showing

equivalence of the Madhyma certificates issued by the B.S.S.B., Patna is required to be issued either by the State Government or Central Government

but no such certificate / notification has been brought to the notice of this Court. As far as the judgment in the case of Ajay Kumar Sharma (supra) is

concerned, in the said case, the Ministry of H.R.D., Government of India by notification dated 23.02.2010 had notified the Purva / Madhyma

certificate issued by U.P. Board of Sanskrit Education, Lucknow to be equivalent to Class-10 but in the present case no such certificate / notification

has been produced by the petitioners herein. Thus the fact which emerges from the aforesaid discussion is that B.S.S.B., Patna is neither an approved

Board by the State Government nor by the Central Government.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, no relief can be granted to the petitioners, hence the present writ petition is dismissed.

However, liberty is granted to the concerned petitioners to approach the concerned respondents, if the petitioners can lay hand on any notification

issued either by the State Government or the Central Government recognizing the B.S.S.B., Patna and treating the Madhyma certificates issued by it

to be equivalent to the secondary / matriculation/ 10th pass certificate issued by the approved Boards to give them the same relief as has been given to

the petitioners of the aforesaid Writ-(A) No. 57732 of 2017 decided by the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court on 04.12.2017.