ANIL KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The challenge in the present writ petition is to the action of the respondents in not appointing the petitioner as Sub Inspector in the Indo Tibetan Border Police (hereinafter referred to as the 'ITBP') in pursuance of the examination held in the year 2003.

(2.) The petitioner was recruited as Constable in the ITBP on 14.9.1993. The Standing Order No. 6/2000 dated 30.6 2000 was issued by the respondent- department introducing Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for the posts of Sub Inspector (General Duty) in ITBP. There is a quota of 17% fixed for the employees like the petitioner who are already in service and as per the Standing Order, each candidate can get three chances to appear in the test. The petitioner availed two chances but remained unsuccessful. In the third chance he secured 68.4 % marks in written examination and 38% marks in interview and thus, the claim of the petitioner is that he is qualified for the post of Sub Inspector, but he has wrongly been not declared as qualified. The petitioner issued a legal notice dated 20.9.2005. In response to the said legal notice, it was pointed out that the petitioner has got 38% marks in interview and thus, he has failed. It is pointed out in the communication that 50% marks were to be obtained for qualifying the interview.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner contents that it is the 50% of the aggregate marks of the written and interview which is required for a candidate to be qualified, but by misinterpretation of the Standing Order, the petitioner has been declared unqualified. It is argued that in any case fixation of 45% marks for qualifying the interview is wholly arbitrary and illegal. Learned counsel for the petitioner relies upon a Division Bench judgment of this Court passed in Civil Writ Petition No. 5226 of 1999, titled as Sub-Major J.S. Randhawa v. Union of India and others,2000 4 SCT 184 decided on 12.7.2000, wherein in identical circumstances, the Court found that there is no minimum qualifying marks for the interview.