'Not Graduate On Date Of Application': Gauhati High Court Orders Reinstatement Of Overqualified Peon Who Acquired Degree 3 Days Later

The Gauhati High Court recently set aside the order issued by Punjab National Bank (PNB) through which it cancelled the appointment of a woman as Peon on the assumption that she was a graduate (the graduation and above qualification were not eligible for the said post) on the date of submission of the application form for the said recruitment.

The single judge bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi noted that when the petitioner had applied for the post, she was not a Graduate as the results were yet to be declared and there was no stipulation in the advertisement that persons who were pursuing any higher post above Higher Secondary would not be eligible to participate in the recruitment process provided that such qualification was not possessed in the meantime.

An advertisement was issued by the PNB for filling up certain posts including 5 posts of Peon in the unreserved category for which the prescribed qualification was “minimum and maximum pass in XIIth standard or its equivalent with basic reading/writing knowledge of English”. The advertisement also specified that candidates having completed higher qualification i.e. Graduation and above are not eligible.

The petitioner had applied for the said post on February 12, 2022 and claimed to have met the eligibility criteria, both in terms of the age and qualification. It was the case of the petitioner that on the date of submission of the application, the petitioner was a Higher Secondary pass candidate. In the recruitment process, the petitioner succeeded in the recruitment process and was offered the appointment vide order dated March 25, 2022.

However, after the verification process, the appointment of the petitioner was cancelled vide order dated June 30, 2022 by observing that the petitioner was a Graduate which she had obtained in the year 2021 and her Grade Sheet was issued on December 23, 2021.

The Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the impugned order is erroneous as the petitioner was not a Graduate as on December 23, 2021 and the Bank itself has clarified the issue in the affidavit-in-opposition dated September 22, 2022 whereby it was clarified that the date stated in the impugned letter was mistakenly done and the petitioner had actually become a Graduate on February 15, 2022.

It was further argued that the Bank has justified its action by stating that since February 15, 2022 was the last date for submission of application on which date, the petitioner had obtained the Graduation and accordingly, she was disqualified.

The Counsel appearing for PNB submitted that the impugned order was passed after a proper verification and the petitioner had become a Graduate on February 15, 2022 which was the last date of submission of application.

The Court noted that on the date of submission of the application, the petitioner was not a Graduate. It observed,

“This Court is also of the opinion that the order dated 30.06.2022 which is impugned in this writ petition apparently has proceeded under the assumption that as on the date of filing of the application on 12.02.2022, the petitioner was disqualified as she was a Graduate and this finding of fact is an erroneous one which is also admitted by the Bank in its affidavit-in-opposition dated 22.09.2022.”

The Court further opined that since on the date of submission of application by the petitioner which was February 12, 2022 the petitioner was admittedly not disqualified, her candidature could not have been cancelled on the ground of over qualification.

“Further, this Court has noticed that the selection was based on merit in which the petitioner was found to be most meritorious which was followed by an appointment letter and therefore this Court is of the view that the cancellation order is unduly harsh and unreasonable,” the Court said.

Thus, the Court set aside the impugned order and directed that the petitioner be allowed to join and discharge her duties as a Peon on the strength of the appointment order dated March 25, 2022. The Court further directed that the petitioner would not be entitled to any back wages.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Gau) 87

Case Title: Kakumoni Barman v. Punjab National Bank & 3 Ors.

Case no.: WP(C)/5929/2022

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