Hitesh Kumar Sharma vs State Of Rajasthan And Ors

This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner seeking a direction to the respondents not to cancel the candidature of the petitioner on the ground of his having crossed the upper age limit as prescribed in the advertisement.

It is, inter alia, indicated in the writ petition that the petitioner belongs to OBC category. The advertisement dated 31.07.2018 (Annexure-3) has been issued for appointment to the post of Teacher Gr.-III, Level-II for subject Sanskrit for TSP area. The upper age limit indicated therein was 40 years as on 01.01.2019 and age relaxation of 5 years was confined to the SC and ST candidates of the scheduled area and for woman of the General category.

It is, inter alia, claimed by the petitioner that the stipulation made in the advertisement confining the relaxation for the said candidates is not justified and the petitioner being OBC deserves a similar relaxation.

Reliance in this regard has been placed on provisions of Rule 265 of the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996 ('the Rules of 1996'), which provide for age relaxation for candidates belonging to OBC category as well.

I have considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the petitioner and have perused the material available on record.

A bare look at the advertisement indicates that the advertisement has been issued with reference to the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 ('the Act of 1994'), the Rules of 1996 and the Rajasthan Scheduled Areas Subordinate, Ministerial and Class-IV Service (Recruitment and Other Service Conditions) Rules, 2014 ('the Rules of 2014') confined to the TSP areas.

In the stipulation in the advertisement pertaining to the age and relaxation qua the upper age limit in so far as relevant, reads as under:-

"11-1आयु सीमा:-

राजस्थान पंचायती राज नियम 1996 के नियम 265 के अनुसार आयु की दृष्टि से राजकीय सेवा में तृतीय श्रेणी षिक्षक लेवल-द्वितीय पद पर भर्ती हेतु वही अभ्यर्थी पात्र होगा जिसकी आयु दिनांक 01.01.2019 को 18 वर्ष से अन्यून हो तथा 40 वर्ष की आयु पूर्ण नहीं किया होना चाहिये।

निम्नलिखित श्रेणी के अभ्यार्थियों को निम्नानुसार अधिकतम आयु सीमा में छूट देय हैः-

i. राजस्थान राज्य के अनुसूचित क्षेत्र के अनुसूचित जाति/अनुसूूचित जनजाति के पुरूष अभ्यर्थी या सामान्य प्रवर्ग की महिला अभ्यर्थी के लिये ऊपरी सीमा में 5 वर्ष की छूट देय होगी।"

A perusal of the above indicates that no relaxation has been provided to the candidates belonging to OBC category.

The Rules of 2014 have been promulgated providing for the recruitment to the posts in and the conditions of services of persons appointed to various categories for the Scheduled area. The provision pertaining to age in so far as relevant contained in Rule 14, reads as under:-

"14. Age.- A candidate for direct recruitment to the post(s) in the service must have attained the age of 18 years and must not have attained the age of 35 years or the age as mentioned in remarks column of Schedule-I, Schedule-II, Schedule-III and Schedule-IV and/or any other schedule against any post, o the 1 st day of January next following the last date fixed for receipt of applications:

Provided that -

(i) the upper age limit mentioned above shall be relaxed by:-

(a) 5 years in the case of male candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;

(b) 5 years in the case of woman candidates belonging to General category;"

A perusal of the above indicates that advertisement issued is in consonance with the Rule, which also does not provides for any relaxation for candidates belonging to OBC category.

In so far as the provisions of Rule 265 of the Rules of 1996 are concerned, once the Rules of 2014, which are subsequent to the Rules of 1996 and meant specifically for recruitment etc. for scheduled areas provide for a different provision for age relaxation, the subsequent Rules would prevail and, therefore, the fact that Rule 265 provides for relaxation to the candidates belonging to OBC category, would be of no avail to the petitioner.

In view of the above legal position, the action of the respondents in prescribing the age limit and providing relaxation to certain categories only in the advertisement cannot be faulted.

Consequently, there is no substance in the writ petition and the same is, therefore, dismissed.