Surya Prakash Mishra vs National Institute Of Electronics & Information Technology & Ors.

Hon’ble Mrs. Harvinder Kaur Oberoi, Member(J)

This OA has been filed by the applicant seeking the following relief:-

The applicant is aggrieved by his non-selection for the post of Senior Assistant pursuant to Advertisement No. A-12/4/2023-Administrator dated 30.09.2024 issued by the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT).

As per the advertisement, four vacancies were notified for the post of Senior Assistant, out of which two were in the UR category and two in the OBC category. The essential qualifications prescribed for the post were graduation from a recognised University/Institution with three years’ experience in office administration and NIELIT CCC or higher certification. The applicant, belonging to the General category, applied against the UR vacancies.

The applicant appeared in the written examination and secured 58.75% marks. The UR cut-off, as disclosed by the respondents pursuant to the applicant's RTI query, was 58.25%. However, his candidature was not considered for further process/document verification.

It is the case of the applicant that although he possessed the requisite NIELIT CCC certificate, he could not upload the said certificate along with his other educational documents as there was only one upload field for documents relating to the essential qualification. The applicant has placed on record the NIELIT CCC certificate at Annexure (A-7) bearing Sr. No. GO12C9D34AD2C611, issued by NIELIT itself.

Learned counsel for the applicant relied on Para 4.15 of the OA, wherein a table has been provided listing the instances wherein an opportunity was granted to certain candidates to produce relevant documents at the document verification stage. The said chart has been reproduced herein below for clarity:-

He draws attention to Sl. No. 5 of the chart, which pertains to the very same post of Senior Assistant. It is pointed out that one candidate in respect of the two UR vacancies for the post of Senior Assistant was afforded an opportunity to furnish a No Objection Certificate which had not been submitted earlier. It is, therefore, contended that when such an opportunity was extended to a candidate selected for the very same post, there was no justification for denying a similar opportunity to the applicant to produce his NIELIT CCC certificate, particularly when the applicant possessed the requisite qualification and had secured marks above the prescribed cut-off.

The respondents, in their reply, have maintained that the NIELIT CCC certificate was an essential qualification and that the applicant admittedly did not upload the same along with his application. It is their case that multiple documents could be uploaded in a single PDF under the relevant upload field and that the applicant also had an opportunity to re-upload the documents. Accordingly, the respondents contend that the applicant's application was incomplete and was rightly rejected in terms of the conditions of the advertisement. The respondents have further stated that the applications were scrutinised and the documents of candidates were verified, and candidates who had not submitted the essential qualification certificate were rejected.

Heard the parties and perused the documents on record.

Having considered the matter, we find that there is no dispute that the applicant actually possessed the requisite NIELIT CCC certificate (prior to cut-off date), which has been placed at Annexure (A-7) of the OA. Thus, the applicant was not deficient in the essential qualification prescribed for the post. The deficiency attributed to him was essentially non-uploading of the certificate along with the application.

It is true that the advertisement required the candidates to submit the requisite documents along with the application. However, in the facts of the present case, the omission to upload the certificate, when the applicant admittedly possessed the prescribed qualification and had also disclosed the said qualification in his application, could have been appropriately examined at the stage of document verification. Further, a perusal of the online application form placed at Annexure (A-3) of the OA would also show that while, fields for uploading of other essential documents such as Date of Birth Certificate etc., have been provided. No such field is provided to upload the NIELET CCC certificate.

We also cannot lose sight of the fact that, during the same recruitment process, an opportunity was afforded to another candidate to furnish a document which had not been submitted along with the application. Once such an opportunity was considered appropriate in the case of one candidate, there appears to be no justification for denying a similar opportunity to the applicant, particularly when the applicant possessed the essential qualification and the same could have been verified from the original certificate at the stage of document verification. This assumes greater significance since the applicant had secured 58.75% marks, which was above the UR cut-off of 58.25%.

The respondents have also assigned different reasons for rejection of the applicant's candidature. By email dated 12.11.2024, the applicant was informed that he did not possess the NIELIT CCC or higher certification and that he had not studied Computer as a subject in Class XII and B.Sc. Subsequently, by email dated 21.11.2024, the reason given was that the applicant had not uploaded the CCC certificate with his application. The requirement of having studied Computer as a subject in Class XII or B.Sc. does not find mention in the essential qualifications prescribed in the advertisement. It seems that at the initial stage candidature of the applicant may have been rejected due to a reason totally unrelated to the selection. In any event, since the applicant possessed the prescribed CCC certificate, the matter ought to have been considered on the basis of his actual eligibility rather than treating the omission in uploading the certificate as conclusive of his ineligibility.

In the totality of the circumstances, we are of the considered view that the applicant ought to have been afforded an opportunity to produce and have his NIELIT CCC certificate verified at the stage of document verification. The respondents having themselves afforded such an opportunity to another candidate in the same recruitment process, denial of a similar opportunity to the applicant, who had obtained marks above the prescribed UR cut-off and possessed the requisite qualification, cannot be sustained.

In view of what has been discussed herein above, the OA is allowed. The respondents are directed to consider the candidature of the applicant for the post of Senior Assistant by taking on record and verifying his NIELIT CCC certificate along with the other requisite documents. Upon such verification, his candidature shall be considered strictly in accordance with the applicable recruitment criteria and his merit, without treating the non-uploading of the CCC certificate at the application stage as an impediment by itself.

In case the applicant is found otherwise eligible and falls within the zone of selection on the basis of his merit, the respondents shall extend to him all consequential benefits in accordance with rules except back wages. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

The OA is disposed of in the aforesaid term. Pending MAs, if any, are also disposed of. No order as to costs.