NIRBHAY PRAKASH Vs. THE STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ application the petitioner has prayed for a direction upon the respondent to process the candidature of the petitioner who has duly qualified for the post of Civil Judge and to issue appointment letter. A further direction has been sought for restraining the respondent not to insist the petitioner to supply the residential certificate for employment; as also for a declaration that the residential certificate for employment as orally demanded has no bearing on the caste certificate issued by the competent authority of the State of Jharkhand.

(2.) THE Jharkhand Public Service Commission came up with a notification for filling up the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) vide advertisement No. 4 of 2013. The petitioner who is a scheduled caste category candidate applied for the post and submitted the documents including the caste certificate issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi. The petitioner after being successful in the preliminary examination appeared in the main examination and upon qualifying the same was called for an interview. The final result declared for Civil Judge (Junior Division) included the name of the petitioner in the scheduled caste category. Since the petitioner in spite of having successfully qualified to be appointed as a Civil Judge (Junior Division), but since the appointment letter has not been issued to the petitioner, the present writ application has been preferred.

(3.) MR . Anil Kumar Sinha, learned senior counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was born in Ranchi on 03.06.1985 to which a birth certificate was also issued by the Municipal Corporation, Ranchi. The petitioner has also completed his higher secondary education from Ranchi itself and subsequently obtained LL.B. degree after completing 5 years integrated course in the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. It has been submitted by the learned senior counsel for the petitioner that the petitioner has a brilliant academic career and also is an author of various articles which have been published in various newspapers in South Asia. Failure to secure appointment letter even on being successful to be appointed to the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) was only on account of the insistence by the authorities that reservation can be claimed only on the basis of residential certificate for employment which is to be issued by the State Government. Learned senior counsel has further submitted that the issue of defining a local person has already been set at rest in view of the Full Bench judgment of this Court in the case of "Prashant Vidyarthy and another v. State of Jharkhand and others". It has also been submitted that the authorities cannot insist for production of local residential certificate in order to consider the candidature of the petitioner as a scheduled caste candidate as in spite of the circular issued by the State of Jharkhand, one cannot take away the right vested to the petitioner by virtue of Article 341 read with Article 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Learned senior counsel further adds that the caste certificate has been granted to the petitioner by the Deputy Commissioner, Ranchi on the basis of the recommendation of the Sub -Divisional Officer, Ranchi and since the caste certificate granted to the petitioner is still in vogue as it has neither been cancelled or rescinded, the authorities cannot now insist to submit a local residential certificate to supplement the caste certificate.