Website Instructions On Eligibility Which Form Part Of Advertisement Are Integral To Recruitment Process: Rajasthan High Court

Rajasthan High Court rejected the appeal filed by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (“RPSC”), against a single bench decision wherein the respondents, were allowed to appear in the examination for the post of Assistant Prosecution Officer, who had not passed their law degree but were appearing, at the time of filing the application form.The division bench of Justice Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Bipin Gupta rejected the argument by RPSC that since the advertisement prescribed last date of application, all qualifications required for the exam, as prescribed under Rule 12 of the Rajasthan Prosecution Subordinate Services Rules, 1978 (“the Rules”) should have been obtained by that date. Rather, the Court highlighted that the advertisement itself explicitly stated that the website instructions formed an integral part of the advertisement, and such instructions clearly stipulated that candidates “appearing” in 2024 were treated as eligible. Hence, it was held that, “…once so incorporated, the advertisement itself must be deemed to have attracted the proviso regarding eligibility of “appearing” candidates. Therefore, this Court finds no cause for interference in the impugned order.”The Court further referred to the Constitutional bench Supreme Court decision in the case of Tej Prakash Pathak & Ors. v. Rajasthan High Court & Ors. in which it was held that while the administrative instructions may supplement statutory rules where the latter were silent, there should be no departure or dilution of procedure prescribed in the statute once the recruitment had begun.However, as the Court opined, in the present case, there was no change of rules midstream. “On the contrary, the corrigendum dated 19.11.2024 and the online instructions explicitly formed part of the original advertisement itself, thereby clarifying at the outset that “appearing” candidates would be treated as eligible. The ratio of Tej Prakash Pathak(supra) thus fortifies the view that where the rules are supplemented by contemporaneous instructions issued before commencement of the process, such stipulations must be treated as binding and integral to the advertisement.”Hence, it was held that the no error was committed by the single judge, and accordingly, the appeals were dismissed. Title: The Rajasthan Public Service Commission v Lavanshu Shukla & Ors., and other connected petitionsCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 286For Appellants: Mr. Khet Singh Rajpurohit; Mr. Veeram SinghFor Respondents: Mr. B.L. Bhati, AAG with Mr. Sukhdev Sharma, AGC; Ms. Abhilasha Bora, AGC; Mr. Pravin Vyas; Ms. Khushbu Choudhary; Mr. Dheeraj JangidClick Here To Read/Download Order

Website Instructions On Eligibility Which Form Part Of Advertisement Are Integral To Recruitment Process: Rajasthan High Court

Nupur Agrawal

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