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Judgment
NAMIT KUMAR, J. (ORAL)
The present petition has been filed by the petitioner under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, seeking the following reliefs:-
“(i)issue a writ in the nature of Certiorari quashing the action of the respondent No. 2 in rejecting the claim of the petitioner for consideration against the post of Assistant Lineman against Advertisement No. CRA 295/19 dated 03.10.2019 (Annexure P-3) in the general category without disclosing the reasons and quashing the selection of respondent No.3 who is less in merit than the petitioner as being illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory, unconstitutional and in glaring violation of the fundamental right of the petitioner;
(ii)issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus directing the respondent No. 1 and 2 to consider the candidature of the petitioner for the post of Assistant Lineman against the Advertisement No. CRA 295/19 (Annexure P-3) on the basis of his merit and experience and further directing them to issue appointment on the said post alongwith all consequential benefits;
(iii)issue a writ in the nature of Prohibition restraining the respondent No. 2 not to proceed with the selection process against the Advertisement No. CRA 295/19 (Annexure P-3) till the pendency of the present writ petition or in the alternative stay the process of appointment and selection for the post of Assistant Lineman in general category or in alternative one post Assistant Lineman in the general category may be reserved during the pendency of the present petition, in the interest of justice; xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx”
Briefly stated, the facts of the case are that an advertisement No.CRA 295/19 dated 03.10.2019 was issued by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, whereby 3500 posts of Assistant Lineman were advertised and the basic and professional qualifications and selection process for the said post read as under:-
“2. Basic & Professional qualifications and Pay Scale :-
Sr. No. Name of Post No. of Posts Basic and Professional Qualification Pay Scale 1. ASSISTANT LINEMAN 3500 i) Matriculation or equivalent
ii) National Apprenticeship Certificate in Lineman Trade.
iii) Experience in Electrician/ Wireman trade from any registered factory/registered firms/ registered company/ registered Institute/A Class Contractor of Electrical/Wireman.
iv) The candidates who possess higher education i.e. Degree/ Diploma in Electrical Engineering will be considered only if they have minimum qualifications i.e. National Apprenticeship Certificate in Lineman Trade.
6400-20200 + Rs.3400 Grade Pay xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx
6. SELECTION PROCESS:
i.Selection will be made purely on merit basis. Recruitment of Assistant Lineman based on 90 marks of National Apprenticeship in lineman trade and 10 marks of experience in Electrician/Wireman trade from any registered factory/ registered firms/ registered company/ registered Institute/ A Class Contractor of Electrical/Wireman. One Mark may be given for every completed six months of experience subject to the ceiling of 10 Marks maximum. However experience is not mandatory for applying the post, if a candidate does not have any abovesaid experience then his/her selection will be merely on basis of National Apprenticeship marks in Lineman trade.
ii.Experience will only be considerable after the completion of National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) in lineman trade till 30th September, 2019. Further, No experience will be considered after 30th September, 2019.
iii.While calculating experience, completion of minimum 180 days will be considered as 6 months experience and one mark shall be awarded. If a candidate has less than 6 months experience then no mark shall be awarded (For example: If any candidate having an experience of 179 days, no mark shall be awarded for such experience.)
iv.Preference will be given to those candidates who have done Apprenticeship in the trade of lineman from PSPCL/PSTCL or erstwhile PSEB. If above candidates are not available, the other candidates having Apprenticeship in the trade of Lineman from BBMB/any other State etc. will be considered.
v.The percentage marks obtained shall be rounded off to the nearest 2nd decimal digit for preparing the merit. No weightage shall be given for higher qualifications.
vi.If two or more candidates secure same marks, then their relative merit shall be determined by their age with higher age candidates placed at higher merit”
The petitioner submitted an online application for the said post in the general category. The petitioner further claimed that he possessed the requisite qualifications for the post as he had undergone two years' apprenticeship course, wherein he secured 451 marks out of 650 and also had contractual experience of working as Sub Station Attendant, as reflected in experience certificates appended as Annexures P-5 to P-10. Thereafter, a list of candidates for scrutiny of documents (Annexure P-12) was issued, wherein the petitioner figured at Sr. No.156 and respondent No.3 at Sr. No.172. However, in final selection list, the petitioner was not selected, whereas respondent No.3 was selected. Hence, the present petition.
The stand taken by the respondents is that the petitioner does not have experience in electrician/wire-man trade from any registered factory/registered firm/registered company/registered institute, therefore, he has rightly not been selected and the experience gained by the petitioner as Sub Station Attendant cannot be equated with that of Lineman/Assistant Lineman, as the nature of duties of both posts are entirely different.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance upon the experience certificates dated 06.12.2015, 10.09.2015 and 05.10.2016 (Annexures P-5 to P-7 respectively) and dated nil (Annexures P-8 to P-10) to contend that since the petitioner has experience as Sub Station Attendant, therefore, he was eligible and suitable for the said post.
Learned counsel for the respondents, while referring to the averments made in paras 7 to 9 of the written statement, submits that although experience is not mandatory for applying for the said post, if a candidate has enough marks in the National Apprentice Examination to fall within the zone of consideration. The petitioner has secured 451 marks out of 650 in his National Apprenticeship Certificate Course. 90% of the said marks comes out to 62.45 marks and without experience which accounts for 10% of the marks, the petitioner does not fall within the zone of consideration as he belongs to general category and the cut off for the said category is 71.60 marks. Paras 7 to 9 of the written statement read as under:-
“7.That the basic qualifications required for the post are as under;
i.Matriculation or its equivalent.
ii.National Apprenticeship Certificate in Lineman Trade.
iii.Experience in Electrician/Wireman trade from any registered factory/registered firms/registered company/registered Institute/A class contractor of Electrical/Wireman.
iv.The candidate who possess higher education i.e. degree/diploma in Electrical Engineering will be considered only if they have minimum qualifications i.e. National Apprenticeship certificate in the Lineman trade.
8.That it is most respectfully submitted that Clause 6 of the advertisement (P-3, Page 19) provided for the selection process, which is reproduced hereinunder;
"6. Selection Process
i.Selection will be made purely on merit basis. Recruitment of Assistant Lineman based on 90 marks of National Apprenticeship in lineman trade and 10 marks of experience in Electrician/Wireman trade from any registered factory/registered firms/registered company/registered institute/ A class Contractor of Electrical/Wireman. One mark may be given for every completed six months of experience subject to the ceiling of 10 marks maximum. However, experience is not mandatory for applying the post, if a candidate does not have any abovesaid experience then his/her selection will be merely on basis of National Apprenticeship marks in Lineman trade.
ii.Experience will only be considerable after the completion of National Apprenticeship Certificate (NAC) in lineman trade till 30 September 2019. Further, no experience will be considered after 30 September, 2019.
iii.While calculating experience, completion of minimum 180 days will be considered as 6 months experience and one mark shall be awarded. If a candidate has less than 6 months experience then no mark shall be awarded (For example: If any candidate having an experience of 179 days, no mark shall be awarded for such experience.)
iv.xxxxx
v.xxxxx
vi.xxxxx”
A perusal of the reproduction above reveals that the experience that was mandated was in the electrician/wireman trade. It is an undisputed fact which is borne from the pleadings itself that the petitioner has experience on the post of Sub-station Attendant (SSA). Further, even the experience certificate(s) appended with the writ petition from Annexure P-5 to P-9 are for him having worked as a Sub-station Attendant (SSA), thus, categorically proving that the petitioner does not fulfil the requisite criteria of experience.
9.That it is pertinent to mention here that a perusal of Clause 6 reproduced in paragraph No.8 reveals that experience is not mandatory and if the candidate has enough marks in his National Apprenticeship Examination to fall within the zone of consideration, appointment would be given. It is submitted that the petitioner herein has 451 marks out of 650 in his National Apprenticeship Examination. 90% of said marks comes out to 62.45 marks. Without the experience which accounts for 10% of the marks the petitioner does not fall within the zone of consideration as he belongs to the general category and the cut off of the said category is 71.60 marks.”
I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the record.
The controversy in the present petition pertains to the rejection of the petitioner's candidature for the post of Assistant Lineman. In order to examine the same, it would be apposite to advert to the selection criteria prescribed in the advertisement. The selection was to be made purely on merit, with 90 marks assigned to the National Apprenticeship Certificate in Lineman Trade and 10 marks to qualifying experience in the electrician/wireman trade. However, experience was not mandatory and a candidate having no such experience could also be considered for selection solely on the basis of marks secured in National Apprenticeship Certificate.
In the present case, the experience certificates relied upon by the petitioner, appended as Annexures P-5 to P-10, pertain to his working as a Sub Station Attendant (SSA), whereas the advertisement specifically envisaged experience in the electrician/wireman trade. The experience gained as SSA cannot be equated with the experience prescribed under the advertisement, as the nature of duties and responsibilities attached thereto being distinct. The petitioner, therefore, cannot claim the benefit of marks earmarked for qualifying experience. Once such experience is excluded from consideration, the petitioner's merit has to be determined solely on the basis of his National Apprenticeship marks. The petitioner secured 451 marks out of 650, corresponding to 62.45 marks out of 90, whereas the cut-off for the general category was 71.60 marks. Thus, the petitioner does not fall within the zone of selection for the post of Assistant Lineman.
In such circumstances, the mere fact that the petitioner was called for scrutiny of documents and figured above respondent No.3 in the said list would not confer any vested or indefeasible right to appointment, as the final selection is to be determined only in accordance with the prescribed criteria.
Keeping in view the above, there is no infirmity in the non-selection of the petitioner to the post of Assistant Lineman. Consequently, the present petition is hereby dismissed.