ARUN SHARMA Vs. STATE BANK OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By way of this writ petition, the petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:

(2.) The case of the petitioners is that vide Advertisement dated 27.04.2021 (Annexure P-1), online applications were invited by the respondent-Bank for recruitment of eligible candidates against the posts of Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales). The dates for online registration of application and payment of fees, as mentioned in the Advertisement, were between 27.04.2021 to 17.05.2021, which the Court stands informed, were subsequently extended on account of COVID-19 pandemic. In all, around 5000 posts were advertised, including about 180 posts for various branches of the respondent-Bank in the State of Himachal Pradesh. The eligibility criteria prescribed in the advertisement was that a candidate ought to be not below the age of 20 years and not above 28 years as on 01.04.2021. The Court is purposely not referring to the other eligibility criterion mentioned in the Advertisement, because the age limit is the only bone of contention, as far as the grievance of the present petitioners is concerned. Their grievance in fact is that the fixation of maximum age limit for recruitment against the post of Junior Associates (Customer Support & Sales), as is reflected in the Advertisement, Annexure P-1, is arbitrary, which is borne out from the fact that the same Bank while issuing Advertisements against the posts of Pharmacist in Clerical Cadre as also Probationary Officers, has fixed the upper age limit as 30 years. Annexure P-2 appended with the petition is the Advertisement issued for recruitment of Pharmacist in Clerical Cadre and Annexure P-3 is the Advertisement issued by the respondentBank for recruitment of Probationary Officers.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that the petitioners are eligible to participate in the process of selection to the post in issue, as they possess the necessary educational qualifications, but they have been debarred from participating in the process on the basis of an arbitrary and irrational age criteria, which has been provided for in the advertisement. He has further submitted that the prescribed age is arbitrary, is further borne out from the fact that the respondent-Bank cannot be permitted to have different age brackets for recruitment of Clerical Cadres in the Bank, may be under different nomenclatures. On these basis, the petitioners have prayed for the reliefs already enumerated hereinabove.