MANOJ KUMAR SINGH Vs. STATE OF UP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) On 03.09.2013, the Electricity Service Commission, U.P. Power Corporation Ltd., Lucknow (for short 'Commission') issued an advertisement inviting applications for appointment to the post of Assistant Engineer (Trainee) in Electrical, Electronics, Computer Science Engg. / Information Technology and Civil Engineering Branches in the U.P. Power Corporation Ltd., Lucknow (for short ''Corporation'). The last date for submission of online applications was 10.10.2013. Condition no. 4 (c) of the advertisement dated 02.09.2013 which provided for minimum cut off marks in the qualifying examination as an eligibility criterion to participate in the recruitment process was struck down by this Court at Allahabad. Accordingly, on 15.10.2013 a corrigendum was issued whereby condition no. 4 (c) in the advertisement dated 02.09.2013 was deleted. The last date for submission of online applications was extended up to 02.11.2003.

(2.) A perusal of the advertisement dated 02.09.2013 would show that inter alia 120 posts of Assistant Engineer (Trainee) Electrical were advertised. As per the said advertisement, only the candidates possessing a B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from a University or a course recognized as equivalent thereto by the State Government, were eligible for appointment to the said post.

(3.) The petitioners who hold a B. Tech degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from different Engineering Colleges also submitted their applications online for appointment to the post of Assistant Engineer (Trainee) Electrical, the post with which we are concerned in the present writ petition. The petitioners were issued call letters and in pursuance thereof, the petitioners appeared in the Computer Based Test (CBT). On 18.12.2013, the result of CBT was declared but the name of the petitioners did not figure in the list of the successful candidates. On enquiry the petitioners came to know that their candidature was not considered, as according to the respondents the petitioners did not possess the degree of B. Tech in Electrical Engineering which made them ineligible for appointment to the post in question. After having failed to get any response to the representations made by the petitioners to the authorities concerned, the petitioners preferred the writ petitions mentioned above. The advertisement dated 03.09.2013 is not under challenge. The petitioners have only prayed for a direction to the opposite parties to treat the B. Tech degree in Electrical & Electronics Engineering possessed by them as equivalent to the B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering, and to consider their candidature.