SC/ST candidates have no right to relaxation in SFIO prosecutor appointment criteria: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently held that a candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category (SC/ST) does not have any vested right to seek relaxation of eligibility criteria for appointment as prosecutor with the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) [Anant Kumar Rao Vs Union Public Service Commission and Ors].The Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Amit Mahajan noted that while the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has a discretionary power to relax the eligibility criteria for candidates belonging to SC/ST category, the same does not confer any enforceable right on such candidates.Thus, the Court refused to entertain a law graduate’s plea challenging rejection of his candidature, and upheld Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)'s order dismissing the candidate's plea.It noted that petitioner Anant Rao’s work experience included drafting and vetting of commercial contracts, but not court appearances. The duties for the post of prosecutor entail assisting in prosecuting and filing complaints before courts, the Court said.“The experience requirement, therefore, bears a rational nexus with the functional responsibilities of the post. In that context, the view taken by the recruiting agency that the experience disclosed by the petitioner did not satisfy the essential requirement cannot be said to be irrational, arbitrary or perverse," the Court added..In 2022, UPSC had invited applications for 20 prosecutors in SFIO. The eligibility criteria for the post was two years of work experience in litigation. In his application, Rao showed two years and seven months of work experience at a law firm. However, UPSC noted that some period of the work experience was not supported by proof. After the cut-off date, the petitioner submitted certain other certificates showing experience of working in different capacities..The notification gave UPSC a discretionary power to relax the eligibility criteria for candidates belonging to SC/ST category.Rao stated that since he belongs to the ST category, the documents submitted by him after the cut-off date of applying ought to be considered The Court rejected this submission, stating that the sanctity of the cut-off date has to be strictly maintained.“Such a provision does not vest an enforceable right in any candidate to claim relaxation as a matter of course…The fact that the Petitioner belongs to the Scheduled Tribe category, by itself, does not mandate relaxation in the absence of satisfaction of the conditions stipulated therein,” the Court stated..Further, the Court observed that a candidate cannot be allowed to improve or supplement his eligibility beyond closing date of applications.“Permitting candidates to improve or supplement their eligibility after the cut-off date would introduce uncertainty and inequality into the selection process and would be contrary to the mandate of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India,” it said.The Court, thus, refused to grant any relief to the petitioner..Advocates Kamini Lau, Jyoti Vashisht, Suniti Bhatt and Rudraksh Jain appeared for the candidate.Ravinder Agarwal, Manish Kumar Singh, Vasu Agarwal and Lekh Raj Singh appeared for UPSC. [Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.