Delhi HC Directs AIIMS To Permit Candidate To Appear In Interview Under OBC Category For Senior Resident-Dentistry

In the present case, AIIMS rejected the petitioner’s caste certificate as it was not as per the format prescribed in the prospectus and informed that her candidature shall be considered only in Unreserved (UR) Category as per the Cut-off Rank under the merit list for Unreserved Category.

While noting that the candidature of the petitioner for the Reserved Category post could not have been rejected, especially when the same was issued by an authorised and competent authority, a bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh observed, “Various High Courts of this Country and even the Hon’ble Supreme Court have time and again reiterated that a hyper-technical approach need not be taken while considering the Caste Certificate of person. This Court also aligns with the opinion that an organisation need not enter into the rigid requirements and technicalities so much so that the interest of citizens is hampered”.

Advocate Archit Upadhayay appeared for the petitioner and Advocate V.S.R. Krishna appeared for the respondents.

In the present matter, the petitioner, being a member of OBC (NCL) Category had applied for the only seat reserved for the OBC Category for July 2023 Session in the respondent Hospital/Institution for through online portal.

On July 20, 2023, the petitioner was informed that the OBC caste certificate issued by the Zonal Deputy Tahsildar, Nirlgiris, Tamil Nadu, was not as per the format prescribed in the prospectus of the respondents. However, the petitioner again submitted her OBC Caste Certificate as per the format prescribed in the prospectus of the respondents on the very same date,

Subsequently, she appeared for the Recruitment Test (Stage-1) conducted on July 15, 2023 but her marks and ranks scored were concealed in the results declared on 22nd July, 2023.

Therefore, as the Interview (Stage-II) is scheduled to be held on August 2, 2023 it was contended that if the petitioner is not allowed to appear in the interview it shall cause an irreparable loss to her as she is a bright candidate.

The Court considering the facts and circumstances noted that was no dispute to the fact the petitioner belonged to the OBC Category and even the veracity of the issued certificate was not disputed.

The Court held that the matter requires consideration and that it is inclined to grant the interim prayer made on behalf of the petitioner, in the interregnum.

Cause Title: J. Vinutha v. All India Institute Of Medical Sciences - AIIMA & Anr.