Batch of 21 writ petitions (lead matter W.P.(C) 938/2026, Government of NCT of Delhi v. Sehdev; W.P.(C) 506/2023 filed by a private candidate) under Article 226 challenging 21 orders of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench, concerning cancellation of candidature of candidates who, having qualified the DSSSB written examination, failed to upload e-dossiers within the prescribed window. HELD (Anil Kshetarpal, J. for the Bench of Kshetarpal and Mahajan, JJ.): (i) a communication entailing civil consequences attains legal efficacy only when effectively communicated; mere uploading of a notice on a website without proof of receipt or due intimation is not valid communication, and the electronic nature of the process does not dilute this doctrine; (ii) where the Government's own Advertisement, Admit Card and Result Notice promised intimation by SMS and e-mail in addition to the website, communication is complete only when the website notice is uploaded and SMS/e-mail are sent, giving rise to a legitimate expectation; the Government cannot approbate and reprobate by selectively enforcing its own procedural architecture; (iii) a recruiting authority relying exclusively on general notifications must say so clearly and unequivocally; if it adopts individual communication, the burden of proving effective dispatch rests on it, failing which an adverse inference may be drawn against the Selection Board; (iv) cut-off dates and timelines are binding and must be uniformly applied under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, but strict compliance cannot be isolated from the obligation of effective communication; procedural rigidity must not defeat substantive justice, and the Court will intervene where denial results from administrative inadequacy rather than candidate negligence. Applied: petitions allowed where OARS portal records showed timely SMS/e-mail to undisputed contact details (W.P.(C) 938/2026; 14309/2025; 506/2023; 12996/2024); dismissed where intimation was belated or truncated (553/2019; 15703/2024), where the Result Notice was erroneous and the undertaking general (8979/2019), where the e-mail was received after the window (15993/2023), where reports of 'no delivery failure' gave no date/time of communication (10565/2019; 10837/2019; 10765/2019; 9718/2019), or where no material proved any SMS/e-mail intimation (11348/2019; 11793/2019; 11997/2019; 13224/2019; 10949/2023; 11351/2023; 3625/2025; 19763/2025; 12220/2025). All pending applications closed.
