Shalini Singh vs. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and Ors. - (High Court of Delhi) (07 Dec 2023)

Courts must not interfere with the eligibility criteria and other conditions laid-down for examinations for service under the State

MANU/DE/8150/2023

Service

By way of the present application filed on the principles of Section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, (CPC), the Petitioner prays for a direction to Respondents Nos. 1 and 2 to permit her to apply for, and appear in, the exam scheduled on 17.12.2023. The Petitioner has submitted that vide order made in the present petition, this court had "protected the interest" of the Petitioner insofar as promotion from Scale II to Scale III in the year 2020 is concerned.

Admittedly, at present, the petitioner holds a job in Scale II in the respondent company. The petitioner seeks permission to apply for and appear in the examination scheduled on 17.12.2023 as part of the promotion exercise for 2024-2025 for promotion from Scale III to Scale IV in an effort to jump straight from Scale II to Scale IV.

The petitioner has never held any job in Scale III and therefore does not fulfil the eligibility criteria for the promotion exercise viz. that she should have completed minimum 03 years of continuous service in the existing cadre, that is to say, in the previous Scale III. Also, the last date for applying for the examination was 22.11.2023, which deadline is long past.

Furthermore, it is the settled position of law that, in order to appear in an examination, an applicant must fulfil the eligibility criteria prescribed therefor; and the consistent view of the courts has been that, courts must not interfere with the eligibility criteria and other conditions laid-down for examinations for service under the State, since that can have wide-ranging repercussions, including upsetting promotional prospects and settled seniority amongst State employees.

The examination in question is part of a promotion exercise being conducted by the respondent company, which will decide the future career-path of several officers. The eligibility criteria for participating in this promotional exercise have been clearly enunciated in the notices issued. Every applicant who wishes to participate in this promotional exercise is required to cross the threshold of the eligibility criteria, since that would be the foundation of selecting as to which candidate is fit to be promoted to the next scale. These eligibility criteria cannot be ignored or waived, just for the asking. Present court finds no merit in the prayer made in the application. Application is accordingly dismissed.

Tags : DIRECTION PERMISSION ENTITLEMENT