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Ajith K. v. Aneesh K.S.

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 940Decided 21 Aug 2019
Civil Appeal Nos. 6178-6185 of 2019
Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud · Justice Indira Banerjee

Background

The Kerala Public Service Commission advertised posts of Junior Health Inspector Grade-II requiring a specific Sanitary Inspector's Certificate course. During shortlisting, KPSC also included candidates who instead held a different, unlisted qualification, a two-year Diploma in Health Inspectors Course (DHIC), after informally concluding it was a "higher" qualification. Candidates holding the properly prescribed certificate challenged this before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal, which ruled in their favour; the High Court affirmed, and the DHIC holders appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined Rule 10(a)(ii) of the Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules, which allows substitute qualifications only if they are (i) formally recognized as equivalent by executive/standing government order, (ii) found acceptable by the Commission through the specific procedure in Rule 13(b)(i), or (iii) shown to "pre-suppose" (necessarily include) the originally prescribed lower qualification. The Court found none of these conditions were satisfied: the government and KPSC's internal communications were mere opinions expressed mid-selection, not formal determinations, and no one had shown that completing the DHIC necessarily meant one had also completed the prescribed certificate course. The appeals were accordingly dismissed, upholding exclusion of the DHIC holders from the shortlist.

Lesson Learnt

A recruiting authority cannot informally decide, partway through a selection process, that a different qualification should be treated as equal to or better than the one officially advertised: any such substitution must follow the specific legal procedure laid down for determining equivalence, or it unfairly disadvantages candidates who hold the properly prescribed qualification.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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