Non-Compliance Of Condition Not Mentioned In Recruitment Rules Or Advertisement Can't Be Ground For Rejection Of Candidate: Chhatisgarh HC

The Chhatisgarh High Court has observed that non-compliance of a condition not mentioned either in the recruitment Rules or in the advertisement will not lead to the rejection of the candidature of any of the candidates.

The Court was considering a Writ-Petition challenging the rejection of the candidature of the Petitioner on the ground that while he was working as a trainee in institution/department, he was not getting salary through the bank account or post office, which is a mandatory requirement according to guidelines issued by the National Council For Vocational Training.

The single-bench of Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey observed, "The language used in the above referred instructions would make it clear that it was issued to bring transparency and uniformity in the recruitment process. One of the objectives was to ensure the payment of salary regularly and on time. As this condition is not mentioned either in the recruitment Rules or in the advertisement, therefore, in the opinion of this Court, this instruction / recommendation is directory in nature and its non-compliance will not lead to the rejection of the candidature of any of the candidates."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Mateen Siddiqui while the Respondent was represented by Government Advocate Dilman Rati Minj.

During the recruitment process, despite verification of documents, the Respondent authorities did not issue the appointment order in favor of the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner failed to submit document pertaining to the mode of payment of salary. It was also stated in the order impugned that according to one of the clauses of the guidelines of NCVT, the engaged instructors or trainees should be paid their remuneration/salary only through banks/post offices. It was further stated that the petitioner failed to place on record any document with regard to the requirements as stated in the Management Manual for Industrial Training Institutes.

Counsel for the Petitioner argued that the condition given in the Management Manual is directory in nature the object of the instruction is only to bring transparency and uniformity to the system. He contended that this system was adopted by the NCVT to ensure regular and timely payment of salary. He further contended that there is no such provision in the Chhattisgarh Industrial Training (Non-Gazetted) Class-III Service Recruitment Rules, 2014 and such condition was not inserted in the advertisement. It was also contended that the Rules of 2014 were amended in the year 2019 and there is no whisper with regard to the requirements as mentioned by the respondent authorities in the order impugned.

The Court took note of the instructions issued by NCVT in the Management Manual for Industrial Trainee Institutes and noted that one of the clauses deals with Payment of Salary to Vocational Instructors of ITIs/ITCs (Regular/Contract basis) through banks/post offices only.

The Court found the above to be only directory in nature, the non-compliance of which cannot lead to rejection of candidature of the candidate.

"If any of the entries made in the application of the petitioner is found doubtful or incomplete, the recruitment agency or the respondents ought to have conducted an inquiry to ascertain the veracity of entries made in the application form. In this case, the candidature of the petitioner has been rejected only on the ground that he was getting salary in cash," the Court observed.

The Petition was accordingly allowed.

Cause Title: Abhishek Bhaskar vs. State Of Chhattisgarh (2024:CGHC:48549)

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