GURNAM SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of present writ petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner prays for quashing the impugned order dated 2.3.2016, Annexure P.7 passed by respondent No.1 upholding rejection of his candidature on the ground of suppression of information while filling the application form online and attestation form at the time of interview. Further prayer has been made for quashing the order dated 20.1.2014, Annexure R.4 passed by respondent No.3 cancelling candidature of the petitioner. Direction has also been sought to the respondents to issue appointment letter to the petitioner with benefit of seniority from the date of appointment of other applicants from 2012 batch along with arrears of salary and other benefits and to keep one post of Assistant Central Intelligence Officer II vacant during the pendency of the present writ petition.

(2.) A few facts relevant for the decision of the controversy involved as narrated in the petition may be noticed. In July 2012, the respondent authorities issued an advertisement for direct recruitment to the post of Assistant Central Intelligence Officer Grade II/Executive wherein the essential qualification was listed as Graduation or equivalent from a recognised University. The petitioner being eligible to the said post applied for the same under Other Backward Class Category (OBC) by way of filling online application form. However, the petitioner being not technically expert, took the assistance of a Cyber Cafi operator in order to file said online application form and due to heavy rush inadvertently clicked on the "No" option while answering the question "Central Govt. employee with three years of continuous service". In fact, at the time of filling of form, the petitioner was appointed as Postal Assistant in General Post Office, Ferozepur Cantt, Punjab since the year 2005. The said online application form was the only document submitted by the petitioner before the conduct of written examination on 23.9.2012. Accordingly, Roll Number and registration number were generated and sent to the petitioner. Thereafter, the petitioner appeared for interview conducted by the respondent authorities from Dec. 9, 2012 to Dec. 15, 2012. At the time of the interview, the petitioner was required to fill an attestation form and submit a certificate to certify his OBC category status. The petitioner submitted the latest certificate dated 3.12.2012. With regard to the attestation form, at Sr.No.11, the petitioner was required to disclose information in respect to any appointment held/being held under the Central or State Government or a semi Government or a quasi Government body or an autonomous body or a public undertaking or a private firm or institution along with full particulars and details. However, inadvertently, the said question got skipped by the petitioner. Having qualified the written examination on 23.9.2012, the petitioner was declared selected for appointment to the post of Assistant Central Intelligence Officer Grade II/Executive by the respondent authorities. When no appointment letter was received by the petitioner, he approached the respondent authorities and filed representation dated 23.10.2013. The petitioner also wrote a letter dated 16.11.2013 to respondent No.4 for delay in receiving appointment letter. For three months, the petitioner neither received any reply nor any appointment letter. On 20.1.2014, the petitioner received a memo stating that on comprehensive scrutiny of documents along with the reports on character and antecedents, his candidature had been cancelled. The petitioner wrote letter dated 1.3.2014 to respondent Nos. 3 and 4 to specify the grounds on which his candidature stood cancelled. Having received no response, the petitioner filed application under Sec. 5 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (in short, "the RTI Act") to obtain the requisite information. A reply to the said application was received on 17.6.2014 by the petitioner stating that since the respondent authorities stood exempted under section 24(1) of the RTI Act, the information could not be provided. The petitioner filed appeal against the said decision. Even then no information was provided to him. The petitioner approached the Tribunal. Reply was filed by the respondents and rejoinder was filed by the petitioner thereto. The Tribunal after examining the matter passed order dated 2.3.2016 wherein the issue regarding furnishing of OBC certificate issued post the cut off date i.e. 19.8.2012 was decided in favour of the petitioner. However, the Tribunal upheld the cancellation/rejection of candidature of the petitioner on the ground of suppression of information while filling the application form online and the attestation form at the time of interview. Hence the instant writ petition by the petitioner.

(3.) We have heard learned counsel for the petitioner.