VIKKI KUMAR PASWAN Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, who is aspiring to join the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) as a Navik (Domestic Branch) in pursuance to the selection process conducted in accordance with Notification No. 01/2023, has approached this court assailing the respondents' decision to cancel his candidature.

(2.) A brief factual background, as emanating from the record, is that the petitioner is a resident of District Ballia in Uttar Pradesh and is a Scheduled Caste candidate who had graduated high school in the year 2017. Pursuant to the respondents issuing the Notification No.01/2023 for recruitment to the post of Navik (D), Navik (Domestic Branch) and Yantrik in the Indian Coast Guard, the petitioner appeared for the Coast Guard Navik (DB)-01/2023 Stage-I examination on 22/11/2022. Before the commencement of such examination, each candidate appearing for the said examination had to provide (i) a photo identity proof which was checked at the entrance of the examination center; (ii) the candidate's photo was captured through a webcam and thumb impressions were taken as biometrics; and (iii) signatures of each candidate were taken on the attendance sheet.

(3.) Upon the petitioner clearing the Stage-I examination on 26/11/2022, he was issued an E-admit card for the Stage-II examination on 10/1/2023 and he appeared for the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) in Visakhapatnam on 9/1/2023. Before appearing for the Stage-II examination, the petitioner was required to upload certain supporting documents. Upon uploading the said documents, the petitioner's candidature was rejected on the ground that there was a discrepancy in the name of the father of the petitioner in the Class-X as well as in the Caste Certificate. The Caste Certificate read the petitioner's father's name as "Vikrma Paswan" whereas the Class-X certificate read the same as "Vikram Paswan".