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Judgment
Ramesh Ranganathan, CJ
Heard Sri M.C. Pant, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Sri Ramji Srivastava, learned Standing Counsel for the Uttarakhand Medical Services
Selection Board, assisted by Sri Sagar Kothari, learned counsel.
The jurisdiction of this Court has been invoked by the petitioner seeking a writ of certiorarified mandamus to declare Condition No. 14 of the
advertisement, and the communication dated 30.05.2020 for submission of domicile certificate with the online application-form, as arbitrary and illegal;
to direct the respondents to consider the candidature of the petitioner for the post of Associate Professor (Pharmacology) by allowing her the benefit
of reservation under the Uttarakhand Mahila category; for a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to issue forthwith a domicile certificate to the
petitioner to enable her to furnish the same before the Uttarakhand Medical Services Selection Board; to direct the Uttarakhand Medical Services
Selection Board not to reject her candidature merely on the ground of lack of domicile certificate; and to permit the petitioner to submit the same at
the time of verification of documents.
Facts, as stated in the writ affidavit, are that the petitioner had earlier invoked the jurisdiction of this Court filing Writ Petition (S/B) No. 250 of
2019, along with other doctors, seeking a declaration that they be treated as a regular faculty; she is working as an Assistant Professor
(Pharmacology) in the Doon Medical College on contractual basis; she is a resident of the State of Uttarakhand, and is entitled for the benefit of
reservation under the Uttarakhand Mahila category; the second-respondent had issued an advertisement on 06.05.2020 to fill-up various posts of
Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors in government medical colleges in the State of Uttarakhand; the petitioner is eligible to
compete for posts reserved in favour of the Uttarakhand Mahila category; the last date for submission of the online application-form was 08.06.2020;
in terms of Clause-14 of the advertisement, the petitioner was required to produce a domicile certificate, by the last date for submission of application-
forms online, to claim the benefit of reservation; because of the lockdown in the State, due to COVID-19 pandemic from 25.03.2020 till 8.06.2020, the
petitioner could not procure the domicile certificate on time; the Janadhar Kendras, and the other offices in the State, were closed upto 8th June, 2020
and all work was suspended; since the lockdown continued till 8th June, 2020, the petitioner applied for grant of a domicile certificate, before the
competent authority, on 9th June, 2020 after the offices started functioning; since the last date for submission of application-forms online was 8th June,
2020, she submitted her online application-form on 07.06.2020 without enclosing therewith a domicile certificate; she was granted a domicile
certificate on 03.07.2020; and, as production of a domicile certificate is a pre-requisite for grant of the benefit of reservation under the Uttarakhand
Mahila category, she prays that she be permitted to submit a copy of the domicile certificate before the Uttarakhand Medical Services Selection
Board with an undertaking that she would produce the original Domicile Certificate at the stage of verification of documents.
Sri Ramji Srivastava, learned counsel for the Uttarakhand Medical Services Selection Board, would submit that, while the last date for receipt of
application-forms online was no doubt 8.06.2020, these application-forms are required to be scrutinized thereafter; the exercise of verification of
documents would only be undertaken after scrutiny; all such candidates, who fulfill the eligibility criteria, would be called upon to participate in the
selection process; and the writ petition, as filed, is premature.
As noted hereinabove, the last date for submission of online application-forms, pursuant to the advertisement dated 06.05.2020, was 08.06.2020.
The entire duration from 06.05.2020 till 8.06.2020 was under different phases of lockdown in the State of Uttarakhand because of the COVID-19
pandemic. The petitioner asserts that the Janadhar Kendras were all closed till 8.6.2020, and they re-opened only on 09.06.2020, on which date she
made an application for grant of a domicile certificate, and was granted such a certificate on 03.07.2020. However, the advertisement required a copy
of the domicile certificate to be filed along with the on-line application form, and for the applicants to possess such a domicile certificate before the last
date for submission of online application-forms i.e. 8.6.2020.
While these are matters which this Court would, ordinarily, not interfere in proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, we must bear
in mind the extraordinary circumstances in which we are presently living in. A lockdown was imposed throughout the Country from 25.03.2020 which
continued in different phases till 8.06.2020. We see no reason to disbelieve the petitioner’s assertion that the office, which is required to issue the
domicile certificates, was closed from 25.03.2020 till 08.06.2020, and re-opened only on 9.06.2020 i.e. after the last date for submission of the online
application-forms on 8.6.2020. When the lockdown was imposed on 25.3.2020, the petitioner could not have known that an advertisement would be
issued later on 06.05.2020 inviting applications from all eligible candidates for appointment to the posts of Associate Professors, for various medical
subjects, in the government medical colleges of the State. After such an advertisement was issued on 06.05.2020, the petitioner was in no position to
obtain a domicile certificate since the offices of the issuing authorities were closed from 25.03.2020 till 9th June, 2020.
In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the entire country to a standstill for a considerable length of time, we are satisfied that the
present case is one such which necessitates our intervention.
As the petitioner has now obtained a domicile certificate to the effect that she is a resident of the State of Uttarakhand entitled for reservation
under the Uttarakhand Mahila category, we direct the second-respondent to receive a copy of her domicile certificate, which she shall submit within
one week from today. In case the petitioner complies with this requirement, the second-respondent shall treat the petitioner as having submitted a copy
of the domicile certificate before the last date for submission of the online application-forms i.e. 8.06.2020. Except for this requirement, her application
shall be scrutinized in all other respects in accordance with law, and it is only if she fulfills all other requirements, other than the requirement of
producing a domicile certificate before the last date for submission of online application-forms, will she be entitled to be considered for selection and
appointment to the post of Associate Professor (Pharmacology).
The writ petition is, accordingly, disposed of. No costs.
Let a certified copy of this order be furnished to the learned counsel for the parties, on payment of the prescribed charges, by 10.07.2020.