Gravity Of Lapse To Be Taken Into Consideration; Candidature Can't Be Cancelled For Trivial Error In Application Form: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that candidature of an applicant cannot be cancelled over trivial or inadvertent error in the application form.

The Court was considering a Petition against the decision of Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission whereby it rejected the prayers of the Petitioner for change of category from Scheduled Caste to Scheduled Tribe.

The single bench of Justice Jyotsna Rewal observed, "Whenever any material discrepancy is noticed in the application form and/or when any suppression and/ or misrepresentation is detected, the candidature might be cancelled even after the application has been processed and the candidate has been allowed to participate in the selection process. However, after a candidate has participated in the selection process and cleared all the stages successfully, his candidature can only be cancelled, after careful scrutiny of the gravity of the lapse, and not for trivial omissions or errors. Law does not concern itself with trifles."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate Lalit K. Sharma while the Respondent was represented by Assistant Advocate General Rajat Chaudhary.

Facts of the Case

The Petitioner’s case was that while applying online for the post in question through the aid of a Cyber Cafe, the applied for category was inadvertently mentioned as Scheduled Caste, whereas she belongs to Scheduled Tribe and along with the application also, certificate of her belonging to Scheduled Tribe was uploaded, therefore, the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission wrongly rejected her prayer for change of category from Scheduled Caste to Scheduled Tribe.

As per Clause (C) of the advertisement, category of candidate as claimed in the profile for the post was to be treated as final. In case the candidate had inadvertently filled her category wrongly in the ORA or her category underwent change before the prescribed closing date for submission of online recruitment application, then such candidate could get her application modified by requesting the Commission to that effect in writing.

Petitioner submitted that her ORA for the post of Constable (Female) within the stipulated period was filed with the assistance of a Cyber Café. She mentioned her category therein as Scheduled Caste, though against this column the certificate uploaded was of her belonging to Scheduled Tribe Category. It was her case that she was not aware about Scheduled Caste Category having been ticked in her ORA. On coming to know of the discrepancy in her ORA and the admit card in relation to her category mentioned therein, the Petitioner represented to Respondent to allow her to rectify the mistake that had crept in her ORA and permit her to change her category from Scheduled Caste to Scheduled Tribe but the said request was rejected.

Reasoning By Court

The Court at the outset took note of the fact that the Petitioner had uploaded the Certificate of her belonging to Scheduled Tribe Category alongwith her ORA and her assertion that mentioning her category as Scheduled Caste in ORA was an inadvertent mistake, deserves to be given due credit.

It was of the view that though the advertisement issued by Respondent No.2 states that rectification request should be made in writing 15 days before conducting of Physical Efficiency Test/Physical Standard Test, but this cannot be held against the Petitioner as she became aware of the discrepancy in her category only on the day of holding of Physical EfficiencyTest/Physical Standard Test.

"Undeniably, the advertisement does carry a stipulation allowing rectification of category entered in the ORA. In these circumstances, the request of the petitioner for allowing her to change her category from Scheduled Caste as mentioned in her ORA to Scheduled Tribe, which is her actual category, deserves to be allowed," the Court observed.

It referred to Supreme Court's decision in Vashist Narayan Kumar Vs. The State of Bihar and Ors wherein the question for Court's consideration was whether the error committed in the application form, which was uploaded, is a material or a trivial error and whether the State was justified in declaring the appellant as having failed on account of the same.

It was held that candidature of an applicant cannot be cancelled over trivial or inadvertent error in the application form.

"In the instant case also, the facts as have come on record do not project it to be a case of any misrepresentation on part of the petitioner. It was case of an inadvertent error, a bonafide error, which was committed probably at the end of the Cyber Café whose assistance was taken by the petitioner for filing the Online Recruitment Application. Nonetheless, her category remains the same i.e. Scheduled Tribe Category. Allowing the petitioner to change her category from Scheduled Caste as mentioned in her ORA to Scheduled Tribe, which is her actual Category, is not going to prejudice anyone," the Court observed.

The Petition was accordingly allowed.

Cause Title: Manjana vs. State of H.P. & Ors. (2025:HHC:14299)

Appearances:

Petitioner- Advocate Lalit K. Sharma

Respondent- Assistant Advocate General Rajat Chaudhary, Advocate Vikrant Thakur

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