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Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB) vs. Sunita and Ors. (Neurja) and connected matters

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2026:DHC:7544-DBDecided 2 Sept 2026New Delhi Bench
W.P.(C) 3841/2017, W.P.(C) 6026/2025, W.P.(C) 6419/2025, W.P.(C) 6450/2025, W.P.(C) 6589/2025, W.P.(C) 10124/2025CNR: DLHC012253832017
Justice C. Hari Shankar · Justice Vinod Kumar

Background

Neerja had applied for a teaching post (TGT-English) in Delhi government schools as an OBC candidate, using an OBC certificate issued by the Revenue Department based on an earlier OBC certificate obtained by her father in Haryana (their state of origin) for the "Jangra Brahmin" community. This certificate was later cancelled on the ground that she couldn't prove her family lived in Delhi before 1993. A single judge had earlier directed the Revenue Department to issue her a proper OBC certificate regardless of that requirement, which was done, and DSSSB was directed to consider her candidature, leading to this appeal by DSSSB.

Decision Breakdown

The Division Bench held that the recruitment advertisement's rules did not actually require an OBC certificate to state it was based on an older certificate belonging to a close relative: it only required that the certificate itself be issued by the Delhi government. Since "Jangra Brahmin" is a recognised backward class in both Haryana (the family's state of origin) and Delhi, Neerja's corrected certificate satisfied the requirement, and she was entitled to be treated as an OBC candidate. The Court dismissed DSSSB's challenge and, applying the same reasoning (reinforced by a subsequent 2021 government clarification that such certificates need not even mention the old certificate at all), also rejected five separately-filed but similar challenges by government departments against other candidates (Suman, Anju, Ram Tirath, Lal Chand, and Kanhaiya Kumar) in the same judgment.

Lesson Learnt

A candidate's OBC reservation certificate remains valid for government recruitment as long as their caste is officially recognised as a backward class in Delhi, even if the certificate traces back to an older certificate the family obtained from the state they originally migrated from, recruiting authorities cannot reject such certificates on technical grounds not actually required by the recruitment rules.

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