Jharkhand Combined Graduate Trained Teacher Examination | Terms & Conditions Specified In Advertisement For Public Appointments Cannot Be Relaxed Or Altered- High Court
The Jharkhand High Court reaffirmed the established legal principle that the terms and conditions specified in advertisements for public appointments cannot be relaxed or altered. Emphasizing the binding nature of instructions in advertisements, the Court held that strict adherence to these terms is crucial. In this case, the petitioner sought a court direction to recommend their name for the position of Graduate Trained Teacher (Geography, Chatra) based on their score in the Jharkhand Combined Graduate Trained Teacher Examination, 2016. The petitioner, belonging to the BC-II category, filled the online form with this category mentioned based on a caste certificate issued by the Circle Officer, Tandwa. However, due to a government resolution changing the petitioner's caste category to BC-I, the petitioner submitted a revised caste certificate. Despite scoring 198 marks and meeting the BC-I cutoff, the petitioner's candidature was rejected because the required caste certificate was not submitted within the stipulated period.
A Bench of Justice S.N. Pathak held, “The terms and the conditions of the Advertisement can neither be relaxed nor be altered. The said legal proposition is no more res integra and find strength from the celebrated judgment of Hon’ble Apex Court in case of Bedanga Talukdar v. Saifudaullah Khan, reported in (2011) 12 SCC 85.”
Advocate Amritansh Vats appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate Rakesh Kr. Roy appeared for the Respondents.
The petitioner argued that the rejection was arbitrary, emphasizing that the competent authority issuing the certificate was not aware of the relevant government resolution at the time of issuance. The respondent contended that the petitioner failed to submit a valid caste certificate within the specified deadline, leading to the rejection.
The Court referred to previous judgments, including one by the Apex Court, emphasizing the importance of strict adherence to terms and conditions mentioned in advertisements for public appointments. The Court held that the instructions in the advertisement are binding and cannot be relaxed, modified, or altered. Since the petitioner did not submit the valid caste certificate within the specified timeframe, their candidature was rejected as per the terms of the advertisement.
The Court dismissed the writ petition and confirmed the rejection of the petitioner’s candidature.
Cause Title: Sanjay Kumar Chourasiya v. The State of Jharkhand & Ors.
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