Vishal Kumar (Appointment) vs Staff Selection Commission Through Its Chairman CGO Complex, Lodhi Road New Delhi. & Ors.

Haarvinder Kaur Oberoi, Memberr (J)

Aggrieved of his non selection in the CGLLE 2016, the applicant has filled the present Original Appliication under Section 19 of the A.T. Act, 1985 seeking the following relief(s):-

“i) To quash and set aside the impugned order dated 05.09.2017 and direct the respondents to consider the claim of applicant for appointment against the posts as notified vide CGLE-2016 on the basis of his merit.

ii) To direct the respondents to consider the claim of applicant for selection and consequent appointment to the post of Assistant Section Officer in MEA on the basis of his total marks i.e. 542.50 with all consequential benefits including arrears of pay.

iii) To allow the OA with cost.

iv) Any other orders may also be passed as this Hon’ble Tribunal may deem fit and proper in the existing facts and circumstances of the case.”

By order dated 06.12.2017 an interim direction were issued i.e. respondents are directed to keep one post of Assistant Section Officer unfilled, till the next date of hearing. The interim order continues to date.

The brief facts of the case are that the applicant is an aspirant under the CGLE 2016 and had submitted his application accordingly. He had participated in the Recruitment exercise under Roll No.4410115138. After qualifying in the various written examination called for documents verifications on 26.04.2017. He submitted his certificates i.e. Diploma in Electronic Engineering in support of his essential qualification for different posts advertised under the said exam. On scrutiny of the dossier of the applicant the respondent-SSC held that the Diploma held by him does not fufill the eligibility criteria of essential qualification which is graduation. Hence his candidature was rejected. The applicant has thus filed the OA challenging the order dated 05.09.2017 issued by the SSC rejecting his candidature.

Counsel for the applicant has drawn our attention to the advertisement specifically to Annexure 10 of the advertisement. In this Annexure the SSC has provided for various qualification codes. For Diploma the code 04 has been provided and for electrical engineering the subject code 19 has been provided. He, therefore, argued that as per Annexure 10 of the Advertisement, specific codes have been provided, a code number are required to be filled in by the candidate in the online application forms. He submits that when the code of diploma and subject electronics engineering exists it cannot be said that diploma in electronics engineering possessed by the applicant does not fulfil the eligibility qualifications. Hence the OA.

On issuance of notice respondents have filed their counter reply. In the counter affidavit it has been stated that the Applicant (Shri Vishal Kumar, Roll No.4410115138) is a candidate of Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2016. That the Notice of Examination was published by the Respondent in Employment News/Rozgar Samachar dated 13.02.2016 and on the website ssc.nic.in for filling up different posts. As per the notice dated 13.02.2016 and subsequent notice dated 19.07.2016, the Examination has been conducted in the following stages:-

I. Tier-I Objective type

II. Tier-II Objective Descriptive type III. Tier-III-Descriptive type

IV. Tier-IV – Document Verification & Skill Test.

Counsel for the respondents further submits that the applicant applied for the said Examination and he was allotted Roll No. 4410115138 for appearing in the Examination and applicant was provisionally allowed to appear in the written part of the examination without any verification of the claims made by him in his application form. On the basis of his performance in the written examination, he was called for Document Verification held on 26.04.2017.

In terms of para 6 of the Notice of the Examination, Essential Qualification for all the posts advertised through the Notice has been prescribed as Bachelor's Degree from a recognized University of Institute, i.e. Graduation. It has also been clearly mentioned under Para 21 (I) of the said Notice that Graduation from a recognized University is the minimum Educational Qualification. The applicant submitted his Certificate of Diploma in Electronics Engineering during Document Verification in support of his Essential Qualification for different posts advertised through the Examination which does not fulfill the eligibility criteria for any of the posts advertised through the Notice of the Examination. Hence his candidature was subsequently cancelled by the Respondent vide Memorandum no. 3/11/2017-Exam.II/874 dated 05.09.2017 as per the provisions laid down in the Notice of the Examination.

It is further submitted that the applications were accepted provisionally from the candidates of the Examination without any verification by the Commission and the candidates were clearly instructed under per Para-13 (VII) of the Examination Notice, that the candidates applying for the Examination should ensure that they fulfill all the eligibility conditions for admission to the Examination. Their admission at all stages of the Examination will be purely provisional, subject to their satisfying the prescribed eligibility conditions. If, on verification, at any time before or after the Written Examination, it is found that they do not fulfill any of the eligibility conditions, their candidature for the Examination will be cancelled by the Commission. Annexure X to the Notice only specifies the codes of various levels of Educational Qualification and Subject Code, which are required to filled up in the application form. The qualifications and subjects mentioned in Annexure X are not specific to the Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2016 only. It has nowhere been mentioned in the Notice of the Examination that Diploma will be treated as Essential Qualification for the Examination in place of Graduation. Since the Applicant did not submit any Graduation Certificate in support of his Essential Qualification during Document Verification, he has not been found eligible for the Examination and accordingly his candidature has been cancelled by the Commission following the provisions laid down in the Notice of the Examination. These facts were communicated to the Applicant vide letter No. 4/77/PG-CPGRAMS(EXAM.II)/2017-Rectt. dated 27.09.2017 and 3/11/2017-Exam.II/1102 dated 25.10.2017 in reply to the public grievance dated 15.09.2017 and legal notice dated 09.09.2017 received by the Commission.

Considering the rival submissions of the learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.

The essential qualification as on 1st August, 2016 prescribed in RRs are as under:-

“i) Assistant Audit Officer:

a) Essential Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or Institute.

b) Desirable Qualifications for the Post of Assistant Audit Officer: Chartered Accountant or cost & Management Accountant or Company Secretary or Masters in Commerce or Masters in Business Studies or Masters in Business Administration (Finance) or Masters in Business Economics.

ii) Statistical Investigator Grade-II Bachelor’s Degree in any subject from a recognized University or Institute with at least 60% in Mathematics at 12th standard level:

OR

Bachelor’s Degree in any subject with Statistics as one of the subjects at degree level.

iii) Compiler: Bachelor’s Degree from any recognized University with Economics or Statistics or Mathmatics as compulsory or Elective subject.

iv) All other Posts: Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University or equivalent.

6 (A)                                                                                                                                                                            ******

6 (B) As per Ministry of Human Resource Development Notification dated 10.06.2015 published in Gazette of India all the degrees/diplomas/certificates including technical education degrees/diplomas awarded through Open and Distance Learning mode of education by the Universities established by an Act of Parliament or State Legislature Institutions Deemed to be Universities under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 and Institutions of National Importance declared under an Act of Parliament stand automatically recognized for the purpose of employment to posts and services under the Central Government provided they have been approved by the University Grants Commission.”

Column 6 B is not applicable since he does not pertain to degrees the courses conducted and obtained under the open and distance learning education mode and not concerning the essential qualification for the prescribed as per the advertisement.

As can seen from the above, the essential qualification is as bachelor degree or equivalent. Three year diploma cannot be held to be in equivalent degree to that of a bachelors in Engineering. Respondents have explained the codes, they submit that the codes are common to all exams conducted by SSC. Since the required essential qualification is that of the bachelor degree the applicant does not fulfil the essential qualifications. Hence the OA is dismissed.