18/01/2024
Appointment on the post of Special Educator (Primary) in MCD - OBC (Central) Certificate is valid for claiming OBC reservation in Delhi
11.01.2024
Delhi High Court (DB)
In terms of DSSSB’s Advertisement dated 04.03.2021, Ms. Tanisha Ansari applied for appointment on the post of Special Educator (Primary) (Post Code: 32/21) in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) under OBC category.
Ms. Ansari had OBC (Central) Certificate dated 31.03.2021, on the basis of which she applied under the OBC category. It may be noted that vide Notification dated 20.01.1995, “Ansari” has been recognized as an Other Backward Class (OBC) by the Delhi Government for jobs in Delhi. Further, vide Notification dated 12.08.2011, “Ansari” has been recognized as Other Backward Class (OBC) by the Central Government for jobs in Central Government.
On 05.01.2022, DSSSB declared the marks of all the candidates who had appeared in the Computer Based Test (CBT). Marks of Ms. Ansari were also declared and she was shortlisted for uploading the e-dossier. Accordingly, Ms. Ansari uploaded her e-dossier at the DSSSB’s website. However, vide Notice dated 27.04.2022, DSSSB directed Ms. Ansari to upload an OBC (Delhi) Certificate for claiming OBC reservation.
On 29.04.2022, Ms. Ansari applied for issuance of OBC (Delhi) Certificate. On 02.05.2022, Delhi Government issued OBC (Delhi) Certificate dated 02.05.2022 to Ms. Ansari. On 07.05.2022, Ms. Ansari duly uploaded the OBC (Delhi) Certificate dated 02.05.2022 at the DSSSB’s website. However, vide Order dated 01.07.2022, DSSSB rejected the candidature of Ms. Tanisha Ansari under the OBC category.
Being aggrieved by the rejection Order dated 01.07.2022, Ms. Ansari filed an Original Application (OA No. 2112/2022) before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Delhi. Vide Order dated 25.08.2023, the Central Administrative Tribunal allowed the Original Application and directed the DSSSB, as well as MCD, to treat Ms. Ansari as an OBC candidate and, accordingly, appoint her on the post of Special Educator (Primary) (Post Code: 32/21) in Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) under OBC category.
DSSSB, instead of implementing the Order dated 25.08.2023, passed by the CAT, challenged the same by way of a writ petition [W.P. (C) No. 16098/2023] before the Delhi High Court.
Hon’ble Delhi High Court, vide Order dated 11.01.2024, dismissed the writ petition filed by the DSSSB and upheld the Order dated 25.08.2023, passed by the CAT in OA No. 2112/2022. The directive paragraphs of the Order dated 11.01.2024 are reproduced below for ready reference: -
“9. Before dealing with the rival submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, we may first note the two factual aspects on which the parties are ad idem. The first and foremost being that the respondent was granted time till 13.05.2022 to upload her certificates. The second being that the certificate dated 02.05.2022 submitted by the respondent was strictly in conformity with the conditions prescribed in para 5 (iv) of the advertisement.
10. We may at the outset note para 5(iv) of the advertisement laying down the types of certificates which were to be considered valid for grant of benefit under the OBC category. The same reads as under:
“(iv) Only following two types of certificates will be accepted as valid certificates for grant of benefit of reservation to OBCs: ·
(A) OBC certificate (Delhi) issued by the Revenue Department of GNCT of Delhi, on the basis of an old certificate issued to any member of individual's family from GNCT of Delhi.
(B) OBC certificate issued by a competent authority outside Delhi to a person belonging to a community duly notified as OBC by GNCT of Delhi.
This certificate should have mandatorily been issued on the basis of OBC certificate issued by Govt. of NCT of Delhi to a family member of the concerned person who had been residing in Delhi before 08/09/1993.”
11. As noted hereinabove, the sole submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner before us is that the certificate dated 31.03.2021filed by the respondent no.1 along with her application, though issued by the revenue department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, was not in the prescribed format. Learned counsel for the respondent has vehemently urged that the said certificate had to be necessarily read along with the directions issued by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor on 27.07.2007 which specifically directed that the communities recognised as OBC under the Central Government would be recognised as OBC even for civil posts under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi. Having perused the communication dated 27.07.2007, we are inclined to agree with the respondent that the certificate dated 31.03.2021 had to be read in conjunction with the orders issued by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor way back on 27.07.2007 and therefore it was evident from this certificate itself that the respondent no.2 was eligible to apply for a civil post as an OBC candidate under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi. The respondent who was barely 21 years of age and had approached W.P.(C) 16098/2023 Page 6 of 7 the revenue authority, Govt. of NCT of Delhi cannot be made to suffer if the revenue authority chose to issue a certificate without clearly specifying that the community to which she belonged was an OBC category for employment under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi also.
12.The matter however does not end here. We find that it is the admitted case of the petitioner that the respondent was granted further opportunity to remove the deficiencies in her documents and upload her amended e-dossier till 13.05.2022. The petitioner also does not deny that the certificate dated 02.05.2022, which the respondent uploaded before this date of 13.05.2022, was strictly in conformity with the conditions prescribed in para 5(iv) of the advertisement as noted hereinabove. In these circumstances, when the petitioner had itself granted time to the respondent till 13.05.2022 to remove deficiencies in her documents, the petitioner cannot be now permitted to turn around and say that these fresh certificates will not be taken into consideration. We are of the considered view that it would be grave injustice to the respondent if she is told that despite belonging to the community recognised as OBC for a civil post under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi and having duly submitted not one but two caste certificates as provided to her by the revenue department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, her candidature cannot be considered under the OBC category.
13.Before we conclude, we may also deal with the decisions in Divya (supra) and Gaurav Singh (supra) relied upon by the petitioner. In these decisions, the Court was dealing with a situation where the applicants therein had failed to submit the certificates for the W.P.(C) 16098/2023 Page 7 of 7 relevant financial year and therefore the Apex Court held that a certificate pertaining to a different financial year has to be out rightly rejected. In Divya (supra), the Apex Court was dealing with a situation where the candidates had not submitted the requisite EWS certificate before the cut-off date. However, in the present case, it is an admitted position that if the certificate dated 31.03.2021 initially submitted by the respondent were to be read with the orders dated 27.07.2007 issued by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, it was evident that she was required to be treated as an OBC candidate for civil post under the Govt. of NCT of Delhi on the strength of this certificate itself. Furthermore, the petitioner had itself granted an opportunity to the respondent on 27.04.2022 to upload fresh certificates by 13.05.2022 and therefore, it cannot now be permitted to urge that the certificate dated 02.05.2022, which even as per the petitioner was fully compliant, cannot be taken into consideration. We are, therefore, of the considered opinion that the decisions in Divya (supra) and Gaurav Singh (supra) are not applicable to the facts of the present case.
14. For the aforesaid reasons, we find absolutely no infirmity with the impugned order. The writ petition being meritless is dismissed.”
[DSSSB Vs. Tanisha Ansari & Anr., W.P. (C) No. 16098/2023, decided on 11.01.2024, Delhi High Court (DB)]
