MOHD ARSHAD Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By means of this writ petition, moved under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has sought mandamus commanding the respondents to give him joining in the Army as G.D. soldier.

(2.) Brief facts of the case, as narrated in the writ petition, are that the respondents got published advertisement for recruitment of G.D. soldiers in the month of September, 2003 in response to which, since the petitioner fulfilled the minimum qualification, he reached at the recruitment center on 29.9.2003 and under went medical and physical tests and cleared the same. On the same day the petitioner appeared for the written examination, and was declared successful in the written test as well. In response to the selection letter dated 28.11.2003 (copy Annexure-3 to the writ petition), the petitioner submitted his documents for verification before the Branch Recruiting Office at Almora, which included the Character Certificate, Caste Certificate and Domicile Certificate (copy Annexure-4 to this writ petition). At the time of verification of documents, the respondents demanded a certificate of permanent residence for 40 years which was not the requirement in the advertisement. As such the petitioner has alleged that he is deprived from joining the Indian Army illegally and arbitrarily hence the writ petition.

(3.) A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the respondents in which it has been stated that the Branch Recruitment Office, Almora organised a recruitment fair for the recruitment of certain posts in the Indian Army. As per the standard laid down by the army authorities, there is requirement of minimum height of a candidate as per the letter A/62518/ Rtg 5 (OR) (A) dated 27th July, 1995. Further, candidates from Western U.P. region are required to be atleast of 170 cm height. However, for Kumaonis and Garhwalis, it is 163 cm. For the purpose of identifying Kumaonis and Garhwalis as per the army guidelines, Hindus, who are habitual residents of Kumaon and Garhwal region of Uttaranchal are said to be the Kumaonis and Garhwalis. Earlier there used to be physical standards based upon the class of and caste but now entire country has been divided into six regions and the physical standards are based there for. Vide Army Headquarters letter No. A./5262/Rtg 5 (OR) (A) dated 6th Jan., 1984, a person who shifts his domicile from region of one standard to another standard will have to settle there and produce certificate of residence at the shifted place for two generation to take benefit of lower standards of that region. In the counter affidavit it has been admitted that the petitioner did appear in the written examination and cleared the same. However, it is stated that his height was found to be 168 cm which was short of minimum required standards. When petitioner claimed for relaxation on the ground that he is a Kumaoni, he was given opportunity by the respondents to produce either two generation certificate or 40 years domicile certificate at the time of final document verification. It is further stated in the counter affidavit that the petitioner failed to produce the required certificates as such his candidature was rejected. The medical test which the petitioner states he has qualified was infact a preliminary medical test for enrollment for a written test and Medical test. A supplementary affidavit has also been filed on behalf of the respondents stating that letter No. 62518/Rtg 5 (OR) (A) dated 14th August, 2003 (copy Annexure SA- 2 to the Supplementary Affidavit) was still applicable for lower standards of the various regions.