These writ petitions raise questions involving the interpretation of the Office Memoranda [OM] dated 19.01.2019 and 31.01.2019 prescribing the eligibility for the Economically Weaker Section [EWS] Category. Additionally, they also involve the interpretation of the Civil Services Examination Rules, 2022 [CSE-2022 Rules], particularly, Rules 13, 27 and 28 thereof. (Para 1)
Prescribed the criterion to be eligible to apply under the EWS category. The prescription was that firstly, a) the persons should not be covered under the existing scheme of reservations for the SC/ST and the Socially and Economically Backward Classes and b) their family gross annual income must be below Rs.8 lakhs.
Secondly, the income was to include income from all sources i.e. salary, agriculture, business, profession etc. and it will be income for the Financial Year [FY] prior to the year of application.
Thirdly, the persons whose family owns or possesses any of the following assets are to be excluded from the category of EWS, irrespective of the family income:
i) 5 acres of Agricultural Land and above;
ii) Residential flat of 1000 sq. ft. and above;
iii) Residential plot of 100 sq. yards and above in the notified municipalities;
iv) Residential plot of 200 sq. yards and above in areas other than the notified municipalities.
Fourthly, the income and assets of the families as mentioned above was to be certified by an Officer not below the rank of a Tehsildar in the States/Union Territories (UTs). The Officer was to issue the certificate after carefully verifying all relevant documents following due process as prescribed by the respective States/UTs. (Para 4)
A careful perusal of the Rules would disclose that, under Rule 28, candidates seeking reservation under EWS for the purpose of CSE-2022 must ensure that they are entitled to such reservation as per the eligibility prescribed in the Rules. The eligibility prescribed for EWS under Rule 27(3) is that the candidate should meet the criteria issued by the Central Government and should be in possession of requisite Income & Asset Certificate (I&AC) based on the income for Financial Year 2020-2021. Secondly, the candidates should also be in possession of all the requisite certificates in the prescribed format by the closing date of the application for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination – 2022. It can be seen from the above-mentioned clauses that the benefit of reservation can be availed on possession of Income & Asset Certificate [I&AC] issued by a Competent Authority. Under Clause 5.3 of the OM, the crucial date for submitting I&AC may be treated as the closing date for receipt of application for the post, except in cases where crucial date is fixed otherwise. (Para 7)
As it would be clear from the Office Memoranda dated 19.01.2019 & 31.01.2019 r/w Rule 27 & 28 of the CSE-2022 Rules, for claiming reservation under EWS category, the I&AC must be as per the prescribed norms and must be in possession of the candidate on or before the cut-off date. (Para 8)
The petitioner claims that she had the EWS Certificate for the year 2019-2020 since it was issued to her on 09.10.2020 by the Haryana Government. However, according to her, even after making serious efforts to apply for the EWS Certificate for the Financial Year 2020-2021, she could not apply or get the same before 22.02.2022 due to COVID-19 Pandemic and the lockdown in Haryana till 06.09.2021; and even thereafter due to the COVID cases prevalent during the middle of 2022; that the Office of the Revenue Authorities was not functional for general administrative work and only COVID related work was being undertaken; that the Certificate is issued by the Village Tehsildar and there was no regular Tehsildar for District Mahendragarh since 2020 and the Tehsildar from a nearby place occasionally came to the Village only to perform administrative functions. (Para 13)
For these reasons, the petitioner states that she was unable to obtain the Certificate for the Financial Year 2020- 2021 before 22.02.2022. It is also admitted by her that, by 13.12.2022, she was able to obtain the EWS Certificate for the Financial Year 2021-2022 but was not able to obtain the EWS Certificate for 2020-2021 till 01.06.2023. (Para 14)
For the CSE-2022, the Preliminary Examination was held on 05.06.2022 and the results were declared on 22.06.2022 and the petitioner qualified for the Main Examination. (Para 15)
On 05.01.2023, the Under Secretary of the UPSC issued an e-mail informing her that the EWS certificate uploaded by her was not in the prescribed format and she was requested to produce the Certificate in the prescribed format bearing date prior to 22.02.2022. (Para 17)
According to the petitioner, on 30.05.2023, she was informed, vide e-mail, that her candidature has been converted to General Category from EWS Category. Thereafter, the petitioner states that, on 21.06.2023, she sent a representation to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) seeking acceptance of her EWS Certificate for the Financial Year 2020-2021 received by her on 01.06.2023 and that she had not received any reply. She claims that she also e-mailed to the official e-mail ID of the Chairman, UPSC but received no reply. (Para 19)
Being aggrieved, the petitioner has filed this Writ Petition since she claims that she had secured All India Rank [AIR] 105 and if she were to be considered in the EWS Category, her cut-off would qualify her, for admission to the CSE-2022 in the IAS Cadre. In the Writ Petition, she has prayed for the following reliefs:
“(i) Issue a Writ, Order or Direction in the nature of Certiorari for quashing email dated 30.05.2023 issued by Respondent no. l;
(ii) Issue a Writ, Order or Direction in the nature of Mandamus directing the Respondents to retain the petitioner in the economically weaker section (EWS) category and accept the EWS certificate submitted by the petitioner for financial year 2020-2021, for the purpose of recruitment pursuant to Civil Services Examination 2022;
(iii) Issue a Writ, Order or Direction declaring Rule 13, Rule 27 (3) and Rule 28 of the Civil Service Examination Rules 2022, to the extent that it prescribes that candidates must be in possession of the EWS Certificate as on the closing date of the application for Preliminary Examination, to be ultra vires Article 14 of the Constitution of lndia as being arbitrary;” (Para 20)
In this case, rules clearly exist in the form of CSE-2022. It has also been settled that determination of eligibility cannot be left uncertain till the final stages of selection, since that would lead to uncertainty. [See A.P. Public Service Commission v. B. Sarat Chandra (1990)2 SCC 669, para 7] Further, it is well settled that if rules prescribe the last date on which eligibility should be possessed, any relaxation would prejudice non-applicants who for want of possession of eligibility would not have applied. Relaxation would then be selective, leading to discrimination [See Yogesh Kumar (supra)] (Para 51)
As is clear from Rule 13, in the present case, by 15.07.2022, the certificates disclosing eligibility had to be uploaded with DAF-I and it was expressly stipulated by the rule that delayed submission of the DAF-I or documents in support will not be allowed. (Para 52)
Quite apart from the above, much water has also flown under the bridge. The UPSC has made the cadre allocations and the EWS candidates against the 298 vacancies have also been allotted their respective cadres. Today, it is legally not permissible and administratively not feasible for the UPSC to unscramble the egg. Accepting the contention of the petitioners would also result in administrative chaos and will prolong the selection process indefinitely. (Para 53)
Insofar as the Petitioner No.1 – Ved Prakash Singh is concerned, his candidature was cancelled on the ground that the Financial Year in the I&AC was wrongly mentioned as 2021. (Para 68)
They have also stated that since the Certificate produced by the candidate was not as per Rules and conditions in the advertisement, the same was returned and not accepted. In view of this, we find no merit in that submission too. (Para 82)
Based on the above discussion, our conclusions are as under :
i) The candidates claiming benefit of EWS Category for the purpose of CSE-2022, acquire eligibility only if they meet the criterion prescribed by the Central Government in the O.M. dated 19.01.2019 and 31.01.2019 and are in possession of the required Income and Asset Certificate (I&AC), based on the income for the year 2020-21. Further, as required under Rule 28 of the CSE Rules, 2022 read with the O.M. of 19.01.2019 and 31.01.2019 the candidate should have been in possession of the Income and Asset Certificate (I&AC) as on 22.02.2022. Any candidate not in possession of the I&AC in the prescribed format as mentioned herein above cannot claim the benefit of EWS Category. Equally, as required under Rule 13 of the CSE Rules, 2022 at the stage of DAF-I, the document in possession as on 22.02.2022 in the prescribed format, had to be submitted online before the prescribed date. The UPSC was justified in rejecting the candidature of those candidates claiming benefit under the EWS Category if they had submitted their I&AC beyond the stipulated deadline. This conclusion has to be read with the reasoning in the judgment, particularly in paragraphs 39, 40 and 41 under the heading “Eligibility for EWS category candidates for CSE-2022″.
ii) As a sequel to conclusion (i) above, we record that the UPSC was justified in prescribing the cut-off date for possession and for uploading of the I&AC in the prescribed format for claimants claiming benefits under the EWS Category. This flows from the O.M. dated 19.01.2019 & 31.01.2019 read with Rules 13, 27(3) and 28 of the CSE-Rules, 2022 and the long line of judgments in which principles for prescription of cut-off for eligibility are laid down.
iii) For the reasons set out in paragraphs 47 to 50 herein above under the sub-heading “Legal Status of CSE-2022 Rules”, we hold that the CSE-2022 Rules have the force of an enforceable law. They are traceable to the All India Services Act, 1951 read with the Indian Administrative Service (Recruitment) Rules, 1954 read with the Indian Administrative Service (Appointment by Competitive Examination) Regulations, 1955 and all this read with Article 73 of the Constitution of India.
iv) Rules 13, 27(3) and 28 of the CSE-Rules, 2022 are constitutionally valid for the reasons set out in para 61 herein above under the sub-heading “Validity of CSERules, 2022 – Validity of the cut-off date”.
v) The UPSC was justified in rejecting the claim of the petitioners, for consideration under the EWS Category in CSE-2022. (Para 86)
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
2023 STPL(Web) 338 SC
[2023 INSC 900]
Divya Vs. Union Of India & Ors.
Writ Petition (C) No. 724 of 2023 With Writ Petition (C) No. 705 of 2023 Writ Petition (C) No. 764 of 2023-Decided on 9-10-2023
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