Writ petition seeking appointment letter as RPF Constable after clearing preliminary tests but not receiving appointment. Respondents showed 1.25 marks deducted on manual OMR checking left him below the OBC cut-off; candidates with higher marks were selected. Petition dismissed.
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 27.06.2024
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE Ms. JUSTICE P.T.ASHA
W.P.No.37521 of 2016
and
W.M.P.No.32150 of 2016
R.Abi Robert Singh
... Petitioner
-vs-
PRAYER: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution
of India praying to issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to give appointment letter to the petitioner pursuant to
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
the selection list.
For petitioner : Dr.Ravichandran for Mr.P.Johnson
For respondents : Mr.P.T.Ramkumar
*****
O RDER
The above writ petition is filed for a mandamus directing the
respondents to give an appointment letter to the petitioner pursuant to the selection list.
2.1. The petitioner had applied for the post of Constable in
the Railway Protection Force pursuant to the notification dated 23.02.2011 issued by the Railway Recruitment Board. The
petitioner had appeared for the written examination that was held
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
on 16.06.2013 in Secunderabad, having Roll No.3121000383. The petitioner had cleared it and was called for Physical Efficiency Test which was conducted in the RPF Training Centre, Thiruchirapalli, on 02.03.2014. After completing the Physical Efficiency Test, he was called for viva voce and certificate verification. Thereafter, he was selected for the medical examination initially at Salem and thereafter, at Pothanor, Coimbatore. He had also appeared before the Pothanor Medical examination centre on 04.06.2014 and gone through the medical examination. Therefore, he became eligible for being selected as Constable in the Railway Protection Force.
2.2. The total number of vacancies on the date of notification was 11,952, out of which, 785 posts under the category of Constable were available and allotted to the Southern Railway which fell under the control of the Chief Security Commissioner, Southern Railway, Chennai. Despite clearing all the initial tests, the petitioner had not received any appointment letter.
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
2.3. Therefore, he addressed a representation to the Chief Security Commissioner, Southern Railway, under the RTI Act and there was no response to the same. After the lapse of four months from the date of the publication of the shortlisted panel, in which, the petitioner's roll number was found, he came to learn that the appointment letters were given to other shortlisted candidates.
2.4. Thereafter, he had sent letters dated 19.11.2014 under the RTI Act to the Chief Security Commissioner, RPF, Southern Railway, Chennai and Chief Security Commissioner, RPF, Eastern Railway, Kolkata, demanding reasons for not giving him the appointment letter. Since there was no proper response to the above requests, the petitioner had sent a letter dated 10.01.2015 to the Appellate Authority-cum-Chairman, Gorakhpur. Since all these efforts made by the petitioner were in vain, he had come forward
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
with the present writ petition.
2.5. The second respondent had filed a counter, in which, it
is stated that the petitioner had secured a total of 60.46 marks out of 130 marks which is 46.51% of total marks. It is contended that qualifying in the earlier stages of the selection does not mean that the petitioner would be selected in the final stage of selection. The final selection is done among the qualified candidates according to the cut off merit/marks. The petitioner's cut off mark was 46.51% and though the cut off mark for OBC category was fixed as 45%, the petitioner was not selected according to their merit/seniority and available vacancies.
2.6. In the original counter, the respondents had not spelt out
the actual reason as to why the petitioner had not received the appointment letter, though he had qualified in all preliminary tests.
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
2.7. The additional counter was, thereafter, filed by the second respondent, in which, it is contended that the petitioner had secured 48.62% (normalised) in the Written Examination. The above marks have been given based on the scanning of OMR sheet and it is made clear that it will be subject to the manual checking of OMR sheet as per the procedure followed for selection process. The respondents would contend that during the manual checking of OMR sheet, it was found that the petitioner had given two answers for Question No.90 and a correction has been made by him. The petitioner had bubbled 2 options viz., B and C and corrected option C. This was not reflected when OMR sheet was scanned. However, during the manual checking of OMR sheet, this anomaly was found and hence, 1.25 marks were deducted. When 1.25 marks were deducted, his percentage got reduced to 47.37% which was below the 47.78% (normalised) for OBC category. Therefore, the petitioner was Not Qualified for the final list.
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
Accordingly, this writ petition is dismissed. Consequently,
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
connected W.M.P. stands closed. No costs. However, the dismissal
of this writ petition does not stand in the way of the petitioner making a representation to the first respondent, considering the fact that in all other aspects, he is qualified.
27.06.2024
Internet : Yes Index : Yes/No Speaking order/Non-speaking order ssa
To
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W.P.No.37521 of 2016
P.T.ASHA, J.,
ssa
W.P.No.37521 of 2016
27.06.2024
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1 issue framed by the court
Was the petitioner entitled to an appointment letter as Constable in the Railway Protection Force despite deduction of 1.25 marks for a corrected OMR answer placing him below the OBC cut-off?
1 provisions across 1 enactments
R.Abi Robert Singh
The Chief Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force (RPF), North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur
The Chief Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force, Southern Railway, Chennai
P.T.Asha
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
