Dismissed

Rikul Chhatwal v. State of Punjab and Others

Punjab & Haryana HC14 Oct 2024LPA/313/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Letters patent appeals against dismissal of writ petitions challenging the provisional selection list for Sub-Inspectors and Constables in the Punjab Police Technical and Support Services cadre, alleging improper application of reservation policy under clause 9.6 of the advertisement. The Division Bench held that clause 9.6 clearly prescribed preparation of a combined merit list with reservation r

What did the court decide?

None granted; appeals dismissed and Single Judge's judgment dated 22.01.2024 in CWP-12331-2023 upheld.

Rikul Chhatwal Vs State of Punjab and Others — Service and Employment | Punjab & Haryana HC (2024)

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

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	Re Da serv te of	ed on :-17.09.2024 Decision : 14.10.2024
1. LPA-313 -2024
Rikul Chatwal		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
2. LPA- 461 -2024
Baljeet Kaur		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
3. LPA- 464 -2024
Yuvraj Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
4. LPA- 757 -2024
Bagicha Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents

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TRIPTI SAINI 2024.11.07 11:00 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)		-2-
5. LPA- 751 -2024
Gurpreet Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
6. LPA- 752 -2024
Kartik Singla		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
7. LPA- 776 -2024
Pavan Kamboj		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
8. LPA- 803 -2024
Sahil Kumar		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
9. LPA- 841 -2024
Satpal Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
10. LPA- 871 -2024
Anjani Verma		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)		-3-
11. LPA- 349 -2024
Rahul Dika		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
12. LPA- 352 -2024
Tarsem		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
13. LPA- 421 -2024
Bakhshish Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
14. LPA- 451 -2024
Prabhjot Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
15. LPA- 971 -2024
Jagwinder Singh		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents
16. LPA-100 8-2024
Akshay Bharial		....Appellant
	VERSUS
State of Punjab and Others		....Respondents

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE SURESHWAR THAKUR HON’BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA

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Present: M r . Rakesh Sobti, Advocate for th e appellant (in LPA-313-2024)

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M r . Nitin Verma, Advocate, M r . Kinshu Mittal, Advocate, M s . Sidhi Bansal, Advocate, for the appellants in (LPA Nos.461, 464, 757, 751, 75 2 , 776, 803, 841, 349, 352 & 45 1 of 2024)

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M r . Nitish K. Vasudeva, Advocate for the appellant in LPA-421-2024 .

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M r . Maninder Singh, Sr. DAG, Pu n jab. -.-

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SUDEEPTI SHARMA, J.

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Th e challenge in the present a p peals is to the judgment d a ted 22.01.2024 passed by the learned Single Ju d ge in CWP-12331-2023 title d as “Sukhdev Sing h Vs. State of Punjab and Other s ” and connected petitions, whereby the challenge to the provisional list dated 25.05.2023 of the candidates selected for the post of Su b Inspectors in Technical and S upport Services Cadre 2021, w as dismissed.

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Si n ce the similar issue is involved in all the above-numbered app e als, therefore, vide t his common judgement, we s h all dispose of all the Latter Pa t ent Appeals mentio n ed above. 3. Th e brief facts of the cases are as u nder:i). The department had issued an a dvertisement No. 7 of 2021 d a ted 09.09.2021 (recruitment of Sub-I n spectors) and advertisement N o . 6 of 2021 dated 09.09.2021 (recruit m ent of Constables) in accord a nce wi t h the provisions of Standing or d er No. 07 of 2021 (recruitment of

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 5-

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Su b -Inspectors) and Standing ord e r No. 06 of 2021 (recruitmen t of Co n stables), respectively, to fill u p temporary vacancies of 267 S ubInspectors and 2340 Constables of both male and female in the Te c hnical and Support Services ( T SS) cadre of Punjab Police by w ay of direct recruitment in different domains further in specializat i on/ fu n ctions. However, corrigendum No. 1 dated 26.09.2021 regar d ing eli g ibility of sportspersons, corrig e ndum No. 2 dated 02.10.2022 for ob j ection fees and corrigendu m No. 3 dated 05.01.2023 for dis t ribution of tentative vacanci e s was issued in the above s aid ad v ertisement dated 09.09.2021. ii) In the para No.1 of the said advertisement(s) dated 09.09.2 0 21, it i s clearly mentioned that the process of recruitment shall be car r ied ou t in accordance with the provi s ions of Standing Order No. 0 7 of 20 2 1 and Standing Order No. 06 of 2021, which is available on the Pu n jab Police official website. A s per para No. 9 of the above s aid ad v ertisement dated 09.09.2021 the selection process in the recruitment was conducted in 2 p h ases, viz., Phase-I (Test 1 and T est 2) and Phase-II (Physical Measur e ment Test, the Physical Scree n ing Te s t and Document Scrutiny). iii) The roster of reserved po s ts for various categories i.e. 100 po i nt 2 reservation roster is publi s hed by the Government of Pu n jab an d the same is also a part of Standing order No. 07 of 2 0 21 (re c ruitment of Sub-Inspectors) a n d Standing order No. 06 of 2 0 21 (re c ruitment of Constables).

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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iv) The duly vetted revised re s ervation category wise breaku p of po s ts for recruitment of Sub-Insp e ctors & Constables in TSS ca d re20 2 1 was published on Punjab Pol i ce website and leading newspa p ers in C orrigendum No. 3 dated 05.01. 2 023. v) In the recruitment of Sub-I n spectors (Advertisement No. 7 of 20 2 1), two unfilled reserved vacancies (one in Ex-Service m en SC(M&B) and one in Sportsperson) from earlier recruitment w ere ca r ried forward and included in the present recruitment of S ubInspectors. Additionally, in t he recruitment of Consta b les (A d vertisement No. 6 of 2021), fi f ty-nine unfilled reserved vacan c ies (t w enty-four in Ex-Servicemen, s e ven in Ex-Servicemen SC(M & B), six in Ex-Servicemen SC(R&O), six in Ex-Servicemen BC, eleve n in Sp o rtsperson, three in Sports p erson SC(M&B) and two in Sp o rtsperson SC(R&O)) from e a rlier recruitment(s) were car r ied for w ard and included in the presen t recruitment of Constables. vi) The provisional selection li s t (Sub-Inspectors) of succes s ful ca n didates was prepared and published on 25.05.2023. T he pr o visional selection list (Consta b les) of successful candidates w as pr e pared and published on 06.12.2 0 23. 4. Pr o visional list dated 25.05.2023 of candidates selected for the p ost of Sub-Inspect o rs in Technical and Support Services Cadre, 2021 was challen g ed by filing a writ petition before the learned Sin g le Judge, who vide judgment d a ted 20.01.2024, dis m issed the same. The relevant portion of the judgment passe d by - the learned Sin g le Judge is reproduced as under :

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 7-

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“ 7 I have heard the arg u ments of learned counsels for the

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pa r ties and perused the record wit h their able assistance. 8. It is axiomatic in ser v ice jurisprudence that Courts m ust tre a d warily while adverting with c hallenge to selection process. T he sel e ction process involves multi p le stages and there is norm a lly in v olvement of experts. It must be left to selection committee to select be s t of candidates as per their need. The Courts should not substi t ute op i nion of selection committee. T he Court can interfere if ther e is mala fide on the part of selection committee or there is violatio n of statutory provisions or fundament a l rights. 9. A two Judge Bench o f Apex Court in Tajvir Singh Sodhi and Others v. State of Jammu and Kashmir and Others 2023 SCC OnLine SC 344 has held:

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“65. Before proceeding fu r ther, it is necessary to preface our judgment with the view th a t Courts in India generally a v oid interfering in the selectio n process of public employm e nt, recognising the importance of maintaining the autonomy a nd integrity of the selection process. The Courts recognise that the process of selection involv e s a high degree of expertise a nd discretion and that it is not a ppropriate for Courts to substi t ute their judgment for that of a selection committee. It woul d be indeed, treading on thin ic e for us if we were to venture i nto reviewing the decision of ex p erts who form a part of a selec t ion board. The law on the scop e and extent of judicial review o f a

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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selection process and resu l ts thereof, may be understood on consideration of the followi n g case law: i) In Dalpat Abasaheb S olunke v. Dr. B.S. Mahajan, (1 9 90) 1 SCC 305 : AIR 1990 SC 4 3 4, this Court clarified the scop e of judicial review of a selectio n process, in the following word s : “9…It is needless to empha s ise that it is not the function o f the court to hear appeals ov e r the decisions of the selec t ion committees and to scruti n ise the relative merits of the candidates. Whether the candidate is fit for a particular post or not has to be decided b y the duly constituted selec t ion committee which has the ex p ertise on the subject. The court has no such expertise. The deci s ion of the selection committee c an be interfered with only on li m ited grounds, such as illegalit y or patent material irregularity in the constitution of the committee or its procedure vitiating t he selection, or proved malaf i des affecting the selection etc…. . ” ii) In a similar vein, in S ecy. (Health) Deptt. Of Healt h & F.W. v. Dr. Anita Puri, (1996) 6 SCC 282, this Court obse r ved as under as regards the sanctity of a selection process and the grounds on which the result s thereof may be interfered with: “9. … It is too well settled t h at when a selection is made b y an expert body like the Public Service Commission which is a lso advised by experts havin g technical experience and h igh academic qualification in the field for which the selection i s to be made, the courts should b e slow to interfere with the opi n ion

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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expressed by experts unless allegations of mala fide are m a de and established. It would b e prudent and safe for the court s to leave the decisions on such m atters to the experts who are m ore familiar with the problems they face than the courts. If the expert body considers suita b ility of a candidate for a speci f ied post after giving due consi d eration to all the relevant fact o rs, then the court should n o t ordinarily interfere with s u ch selection and evaluation…….” iii) This position was r e iterated by this Court in M .V. Thimmaiah v. Union Public S ervice Commission, (2008) 2 S CC 119, in the following words:

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“21. Now, comes the quest i on with regard to the selectio n of the candidates. Normally, th e recommendations of the Selec t ion Committee cannot be challe n ged except on the ground of m ala fides or serious violation o f the statutory rules. The co u rts cannot sit as an Appe l late Authority to examine the recommendations of the Se l ection Committee like the court of appeal. This discretion h a s been given to the Selec t ion Committee only and courts rarely sit as a court of appea l to examine the selection of th e candidates nor is the busines s of the court to examine each c a ndidate and record its opinion …

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30. We fail to understand how the Tribunal can sit as an Appellate Authority to ca l l for the personal records a nd constitute Selection Commit t ee to undertake this exercise. T his

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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power is not given to the Tribunal and it should be cle a rly understood that the assess m ent of the Selection Committe e is not subject to appeal eith e r before the Tribunal or by the courts. One has to give cr e dit to the Selection Committee for making their assessment an d it is not subject to appeal. Ta k ing the overall view of ACRs of the candidates, one may be hel d to be very good and another m a y be held to be good. If this typ e of interference is permitted the n it would virtually amount that the Tribunals and the High Courts have started sitting as Selec t ion Committee or act as an Ap p ellate Authority over the select i on. It is not their domain, it sh o uld be clearly understood, as has been clearly held by this Co u rt in a number of decisions….. ” iv) Om Prakash Poplai and Rajesh Ku m ar Maheshwari v. Delhi Stock E xchange Association Ltd., (199 4 ) 2 SCC 117, was a case whe r e an appeal was filed before this Court challenging the selec t ion of members to the Delhi S t ock Exchange on the ground th a t the Selection Committee for m ed for the aforesaid purpose, a r bitrarily favoured some candid a tes and was thus, against Ar t icle 14. This Court rejected the allegation of favouritism an d bias by holding as under: “5. …the selection of memb e rs by the Expert Committee ha d to be done on the basis of an objective criteria taking i nto consideration experience, professional qualifications a nd similar related factors. In th e present cases, we find that cer t ain percentage of marks were a llocated for each of these fact o rs,

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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namely, educational qua l ifications, experience, finan c ial background and knowledge o f the relevant laws and proced u res pertaining to public issues e t c. Of the total marks allocated o nly 20 per cent were reserved for interviews. Therefore, the pro c ess of selection by the Expert C o mmittee was not left entirely to the sweet-will of the members of the Committee. The area of p lay was limited to 20 per cent a n d having regard to the fact that the members of the Expert Co m mittee comprised of two mem b ers nominated by the Central G overnment it is difficult to ac c ept the contention that they act e d in an unreasonable or arbit r ary fashion……”

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66. Thus, the inexorable conclusion that can be draw n is that it is not within the do m ain of the Courts, exercising the power of judicial review, to enter into the merits of a selec t ion process, a task which is th e prerogative of and is within the expert domain of a Selectio n Committee, subject of course t o a caveat that if there are pr o ven allegations of malfeasanc e or violations of statutory rule s , only in such cases of inhe r ent arbitrariness, can the Court s intervene.

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67. Thus, Courts while exercising the power of judi c ial review cannot step into the s hoes of the Selection Committe e or assume an appellate role to examine whether the m a rks awarded by the Selectio n Committee in the viva-voce are excessive and not correspo n ding to their performance in such test. The assessment and e valuation of the performanc e of

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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candidates appearing befor e the Selection Committee/Inter v iew Board should be best left t o the members of the committee. In light of the position that a C ourt cannot sit in appeal against the decision taken pursuan t to a reasonably sound selec t ion process, the following grou n ds raised by the writ petition e rs, which are based on an attac k of subjective criteria employe d by the selection board/intervie w panel in assessing the suitab i lity of candidates, namely, (i) t hat the candidates who had d one their post-graduation had been awarded 10 marks an d in the viva-voce, such PG can d idates had been granted eithe r 18 marks or 20 marks out o f 20. (ii) that although the w rit petitioners had performed e xceptionally well in the interv i ew, the authorities had acted in a n arbitrary manner while carr y ing out the selection process, w o uld not hold any water.

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10. The conceded positio n emerging from record is that all th e petitioners belong to reserved category and primarily SC (M & B) an d as per advertisement, 27 s eats were reserved for the s aid ca t egory. 17 seats of the said cat e gory have been filled up from SC ( M &B) and 2 seats have been fille d from SC(R&O). 8 seats have been ca r ried forward. There was 1 se a t meant for SC (Sports-R&O) a nd th e said seat has not been filled u p . It has also been carried forw a rd. Th e petitioners participated in the s election process and they have not be e n selected. The respondent ha s prepared combined merit list for th e purpose of reservation.

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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11. Paragraph 5.3 of the a dvertisement permits candidate s to ap p ly for more than one specializ a tion/function. Every candidate w as su p posed to apply for one domain and one function, however, lib e rty wa s granted to apply for more th a n one function/specialization. T his fa c ilitated candidates to ap ply for more than o ne fu n ction/specialization and it inc r eased their possibility of succ e ss. Th e said paragraph has no concer n with preparation of merit list a nd reservation. It simply creates rig h t to apply for different functi o ns. Pa r agraph 5.3 of the advertisemen t reads as :

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“5.3 Candidates are req u ired to apply in minimum o ne Specialization/ Function. However, applying in mult i ple Specializations/ Functions may increase their chances of selection as the cut off for e a ch Specialization/ Function ma y be different depending upon the number of candidates to be selected in that Specializa t ion/ Function and the numbe r of candidates applying for that Specialization/ Function.”

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12. Paragraph 9.6 presc r ibes procedure for preparatio n of sel e ction list. It provides that res e rvation roster shall be applie d as pe r the State Government instruct i ons on the combined merit list a nd no t on the individual domain/spe c ialization. It further provides t hat reservation category and/or dom a in/specialization as and when g ets fill e d up, further selection to that r eservation category and/or do m ain sp e cialization shall be discont i nued. The relevant extracts of Pa r agraph 9.6 of the advertisemen t read as:

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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“ 9.6 Preparation of the Selection List

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9.6.1 For preparation of Se l ection List, the Reservation ro s ter shall be applied as per the State Government instructions on the combined merit list an d not on the individual Domains/ Specializations. The candi d ates shall be selected in t h eir respective Reservation cate g ories and shall be allocated t o a particular Domain/ Specia l ization as per their overall merit prepared on the basis of ag g regate marks of Test 1 and Te s t 2 as prepared in clause 9.5.1 h ereinbefore. 9.6.2 As and when a Rese r vation Category and/ or Dom a in/ Specialization gets filled up c ompletely, further selection to t hat Reservation Category and/ o r Domain/ Specialization shal l be discontinued.”

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13. From the pleadings a n d arguments of learned counse l for th e petitioners, nothing sort of f avoritism can be culled out. T he pe t itioners could not be selected because of convoluted mechanism ad o pted by respondent-State. The respondent, at the same mom e nt, ad v ertized different domains as w e ll as functions and granted lib e rty to applicants to apply for differ e nt functions. The respondent has pr e pared combined merit list fo r the purpose of reservation. T he reservation has not been appli e d domain-wise or function- w ise wh e reas reservation policy has b e en applied on the combined merit lis t . Resultantly, there was possibi l ity that in a particular domain, no ca n didate belonging to a part i cular category is selected. T he res p ondent has selected 145 c a ndidates belonging to rese r ved

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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ca t egory against 157 reserved po s ts. This indicates that respond e ntSt a te collectively has followed re s ervation policy and duly comp l ied wi t h mandate of 2006 Act. The tw e lve reserved vacancies have been lef t vacant. These vacancies hav e not been filled up from gen e ral ca t egory candidates and carri e d forward for next recruit m ent pr o cess. The grievance of the petitioners has primarily emanate d on ac c ount of their application in a particular domain or partic u lar fu n ction. In Para 9.6.2 of the adv e rtisement, it was clearly mentio n ed th a t question of reservation and domain/specialization would run si m ultaneously. The respondent- S tate at every point of time w as su p posed to look at reservation as well as domain. In cas e , a ca n didate belonging to a reser v ed category is selected in o ne pa r ticular domain, it may result i n to depriving another candidat e of sai d category from his seat in ano t her domain/function e.g. if the r e is on e seat for SC (sports) and tw o candidates apply under diffe r ent do m ains, as soon as one candidat e is selected in one domain, ano t her wo u ld not be selected in another domain. Similarly, in a partic u lar do m ain, majority candidates may b e from a particular category du e to no n -availability of candidates of o t her categories. 14. The petitioners have p articipated in the selection pro c ess an d there is no illegality or a rbitrariness on the part of the res p ondent-State. In the absen c e of prima facie illegality or ar b itrariness, it would not be fair on the part of Court to interfer e in th e selection process.

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 16-

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15. It is settled propositi o n of law that a candidate ha v ing ta k en part in the selection proc e ss without any demur or pro t est, ca n not challenge the same after having been declared unsuccessfu l . 16. In Ramesh Chandra Shah v. Anil Joshi, (2013) 11 SCC 309 , after referring to a catena of judgments on the principl e of waiver and estoppel, Supreme Cou r t did not entertain the challeng e to th e advertisement for the reas o n that the same would not be maintainable after participating in the selection process. The rele v ant ext r acts of the judgment read as :

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“24. In view of the p ropositions laid down in the above noted judgments, it must b e held that by having taken part in the process of selection with f ull knowledge that the recruit m ent was being made under the G eneral Rules, the respondents h ad waived their right to qu e stion the advertisement or the methodology adopted by the Board for making selection and the learned Single Judge and th e Division Bench of the High C o urt committed grave error by entertaining the grievance mad e by the respondents.”

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A two Judge Bench of Supreme Court in State of Uttar Pradesh v. Karunesh Kumar and Others 2022 SCC Online SC 1706 ha s clearly held that a candidate w ho has participated in the selec t ion pr o cess is estopped and cannot ch a llenge the selection process.

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A two Judge Bench o f Apex Court in Tajvir Singh Sodhi (supra) has held that candidates, having taken part in the selec t ion pr o cess without any demur or prot e st, cannot challenge the same a f ter

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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ha v ing been declared unsuccessfu l . The candidates cannot appro b ate an d reprobate at the same time . A candidate cannot allege t hat sel e ction process was unfair or th e re was some lacuna in the pro c ess just because selection process was not palatable to a candidate 17. The petitioners have p articipated in the selection pro c ess an d they have not been selected o n account of combined merit list for th e purpose of reservation. They, a t this belated stage, cannot dis p ute mode and manner prescribed in th e advertisement. 18. In the wake of above f acts and findings, all the petit i ons de s erve to be dismissed and accor d ingly dismissed. 19. Before parting with the judgment, this Court w o uld ha s ten to advert with Paragraph N os.11.5 of the advertisement. In the sai d paragraph, it has been provi d ed that there would be no wai t ing lis t and unfilled vacancies shall b e carried forward in the respective reservation category to the next recruitment process. The S t ate co u nsel during the course of a rguments further confirmed t hat un f illed seats meant for open cate g ory would not be carried forw a rd. Pa r agraph 11.5 of the advertiseme n t reads as :

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“11.5 No Waiting Lis t shall be prepared and any unfi l led vacancy shall be carried fo r ward in the respective reserva t ion category to the next recruit m ent. It is however clarified that the Domain(s)/ Specialization(s ) , if any, would be applicabl e as decided at the time of next recruitment afresh and may d if fer from the existing Domain(s) / Specialization(s).”

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 18-

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20. The selection process commences from the advertise m ent an d completes on the joining of c a ndidates. It is well-known fact t hat ev e ry selection process imbibes a quite long time. There are al w ays po s sibilities especially in Armed F orces that few candidates at the sta g e of medical examination a r e found unfit. There are al w ays further possibilities of selection o f same candidate against more t h an on e post. In such circumstances, p osts may get vacant and if t h ese po s ts are carried forward despite a vailability of eligible candidate s , it wo u ld waste valuable time and energy of the State as well as pr ej udice those candidates who are not selected on accoun t of mi n uscule margin.

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21. This Court finds that i t would be in the interest of jus t ice, eq u ity and fair play if the respo n dent-State in view of judgmen t of Ap e x Court in Munja Praveen and others v. State of Telangana and others, 2017(14) SCC 797 , qua v a cant posts, re-considered clai m of eli g ible candidates.”

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SUBMISSIONS OF LEARNED COUNSEL FOR THE PARTIES

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Le a rned counsel for the appellan t s contend that the learned Si n gle Judge complete l y ignored the contentions raise d by the appellants and without any reply has wro n gly dismissed the writ petitio n s. They further contend that the learned Single J udge totally ignored the fact th a t the present selection is contrar y to reservation policy. They, therefore, pray that t he present appeals be allowed and the judgment p a ssed by the learned Single Judg e be set aside. 6. Pe r contra, learned counsel for th e State submits that the Provisi o nal TRIPTI SAINISelection List ( S ub-Inspectors) published on 2 5 .05.2023 and Provisional Selec t ion 2024.11.07 11:00 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 19-

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List (Constab l es) published on 06.12.20 2 3 is in accordance with the Rules/instructio n s of Government of Punja b , Standing Order No.7 of 2 0 21 (recruitment of Sub-Inspectors) & Standing Order No.6 of 2021 (recruitmen t of Constables), A d vertisement No.7 of 2021 dat e d 09.09.2021 (recruitment of S ubInspectors) & Advertisement No.6 of 2021 dated 09.09.2021 (recruitmen t of Constables) an d subsequent Corrigendum(s). He, therefore, contends that the learned Single J udge has rightly dismissed the w rit petitions filed by the appellants. 7. W e have heard learned counsel fo r the parties and perused the w h ole record of these c ases.

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A perusal of the record show s that the process for prepa r ing Provisional Se l ection List has been explained in para No. 9.6 of the s aid advertisement(s) dated 09.09.2021, which are r e produced as under: "9.6 Preparation of the Selection List

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6 .1 For preparation of Selection L ist, the Reservation roster shal l be ap p lied as per the State Govern m ent instructions on the combi n ed merit list and not on the individ u al Domains/ Specializations. T he ca n didates shall be selected in the i r respective Reservation catego r ies an d shall be allocated to a partic u lar Domain/ Specialization as per their overall merit prepared on the basis of aggregate marks of Te s t 1 an d Test 2 as prepared in clause 9. 5 .1 hereinbefore. 9. 6 .2 As and when a Reserv a tion Category and/ or Dom a in/ Sp e cialization gets filled up co m pletely, further selection to t hat Re s ervation Category and/ or Domain/ Specialization shall be dis c ontinued.

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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6 .3 Firstly, the vacancies of G e neral (unreserved), ExService m en (G e neral) and Sportspersons (Ge n eral) category shall be filled up si m ultaneously out of the candidat e s belonging to all the categorie s on the basis of their merit. Secon d ly, the vacancies of differe n t 4 Re s erved categories including Sp o rtspersons (SC) shall be simil a rly fill e d up simultaneously out of the candidates belonging to the res p ective Reserved category base d on the overall merit.

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6 .4 Once a candidate has been selected and allocated a Dom a in/ Sp e cialization, (s)he shall not b e considered for selection against re m aining Domain(s)/ Specializa t ion(s) in which (s)he may h ave ap p eared.

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6 .5 In case of a candidate wh o has appeared in more than one Sp e cialization in any Domain in Test 2 and gets equal aggre g ate m a rks considering his/ her marks in different Specializations, the co n sideration for selection to the Selection List shall be affecte d as fol l ows:

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9.6.5.1 For IT Services D o main, the candidate shall be f irst considered for selection to t h e Selection List in a Specializa t ion of Grouping 1, followed b y a Specialization of Groupin g 2, followed by a Specialization of Grouping 3. The candidate s h all be allocated in whichever S p ecialization (s)he secures a plac e in the Selection List first in point of time and thereafter the selected candidate shall no t be considered against remai n ing Specializations.

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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9.6.5.2 For Community & Victim Support and Counsel l ing Services Domain, the ca n didate shall be considered for selection to the Selectio n List in the Specialization of Community Counselling first, and 5 thereafter in Communit y & Victim Support Specializati o n. The candidate shall be alloc a ted in whichever Specializati o n (s)he secures a place in the Selection List first in point of time and thereafter the sele c ted candidate shall not be considered against remai n ing Specializations.

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9.6.5.3 For Forensic Sciences Domain, the candidate shal l be considered for selection to t h e Selection List in a Specializa t ion of Computer/ Digital Foren s ic Analysis first, and thereafte r in Forensic Analysis Special i zation. The candidate shall be allocated in whichever Spe c ialization (s)he secures a plac e in the Selection List first in point of time and thereafter the selected candidate shall no t be considered against remai n ing Specializations.

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6 .6 While preparing the Sele c tion List, in the event of t wo ca n didates securing equal aggreg a te marks, the same Tie resolu t ion cri t eria as in clause 9.5.2 hereinbe fo re shall be adopted."

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P a ra 13 of the Advertisement(s) pertaining to 'No Waiting Lis t ' is reproduced as u n der:

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"In the recruitment in TSS cadre, the reservation roster shal l be applied to the vacancies o f the single and unified cadre a s a whole whereas the cut off of marks shall be applied to the

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 22-

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individual Domain and Spe c ialization/ Function on the basi s of 6 the number of candidates to be selected in that Domain a nd Specialization/ Function. T h e selection of candidates to the individual Domain and Spe c ialization/ Function is going t o be reservation category agnost i c. Therefore, no waiting list s h all be prepared in the recruitme n t of Constables in TSS cadre."

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In addition, Para 11.5 of the A d vertisement(s) pertaining to 'F i nal M e rit List' is reproduced as follow i ng:

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"No Waiting List shall be p repared and any unfilled vaca n cy shall be carried forward in t he respective reservation cate g ory to the next recruitment. I t is however clarified that the Domain(s)/ Specialization(s ) , if any, would be applicabl e as decided at the time of next recruitment afresh and may differ from the existing Domain(s) / Specialization(s)."

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Si n ce no reply was filed to the w rit petition, therefore, the lear n ed State counsel w as directed to give written synopsis regarding the details of selection proce s s. The details of the selection p r ocess as given by the learned S t ate counsel are as u nder:-

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As per the provisional Sele c tion List (Sub-Inspector) publis h ed dated 25.05.20 2 3, 12 number of vacancies rem a ined unfilled out of 267 vacan c ies published in A d vertisement No. 7 of 2021 due t o the absence of eligible candid a tes in a particular D omain/ Specialization. All 12 unfilled vacancies are in Fore n sic Analysis Speci a lization/ Function under For e nsic Sciences (FS) Domain. T he reservation wis e vacancies remain unfilled is detailed as under:

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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Sr. No.	Category	Numbe va	r of unfilled cancies
		Male	Female
1.	Scheduled Caste (M &B)	1	7
2.	Ex-Servicemen SC( M&B)	1	0
3.	Sports SC (M&B)	2	0
4.	Sports SC (R&O)	1	0
T	otal unfilled vacancie s		12

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As per Provisional Selection List (Constables) published on 06.12.2023, 66 number of vacan c ies remained unfilled out of 2 3 40 va c ancies published in Advertis e ment No. 6 of 2021 due to the ab s ence of eligible candidates in a particular Domain/ Specializat i on. O u t of these 66 unfilled vacan c ies, 35 unfilled vacancies ar e in Fo r ensic Analysis Specialization/ Function under Forensic Scie n ces (F S ) Domain and 31 unfilled vaca n cies are in System Administra t ion Sp e cialization/ Function under Inf o rmation Technology (IT) Dom a in. Th e reservation wise vacancies w h ich remained unfilled are deta i led as u nder:

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Sr. No.	Category	Numb va	er of unfill cancies ed
		Male	Fema le
1.	Scheduled Caste (M& B)	46	0
2.	Freedom Fighter	1	9
3.	Sports SC (M&B)	10	0
	Total unfilled vacanci es		66

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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Th e provisional Selection List of 2 55 candidates in the rank of S ubInspector & provisional Selection List of 2274 c andidates in the rank of Consta b les is prepared in a c cordance with the State Gover n ment rules/ instructions, TSS c a dre Service rules, S tanding order and the Advert i sement. The provisional Selec t ion List is prepar e d as per Para 9.6 (Prepar a tion of Selection List), of the advertisement. A s prescribed in the advertise m ent, reservation was applied as per the State Gov e rnment instructions on the co m bined merit list and not on the individual Dom a ins/ Specializations. Also, as a n d when a reservation category a nd/ or Domain/ S p ecialization gets filled up co m pletely, further selection to t hat reservation cat e gory and/ or domain/ Specializ a tion was discontinued. Firstly, the vacancies of General (unreserved), Ex-Servic e men (General) and Sportspersons (General) categ o ry were filled up simultaneou s ly out of the candidates belon g ing to all the categ o ries on the basis of their merit. S econdly, the vacancies of diffe r ent reserved categ o ries including Sportspersons (SC) were similarly filled up simultaneously out of the candidates belonging to the respective reserved cate g ory based on the overall merit. The following cand i dates were unable to secure a p l ace

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in the provision a l Selection List, details of which are as under:

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Sr.N o.	Deta ils of LPA	Name of Petitioner	Roll No.	Specializatio n applied	Marks obtained (out of 200)	Applied reservatio n category	Remar ks
1.	313/ 2024	Rikul Chhatwal	2207020 01745	Community Victim Support &	79.12105	SC M&B)	Special ion cut 117.990 izat -off: 84
2.	349/ 2024	Rahul Dika	2207060 01947	Human Resource Management	132.84896	Wards of Police Personnel (WPP Certificate not produced. Hence, considered	Special ion cu 143.013 izat t-off 24

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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						as Unreserved Candidate)
3.	352/ 2024	Tarsem	2206040 01100 (Consta ble)	Human Resource Management	49.59300	BC Male	Special ion off:120 920 izat cut- .10
4.	421/ 2024	Bakshish Singh	2207020 01995	Human Resource Management	109.56131	Sports SC (R&O) Male	Special ion off:143 324 izat cut- .01
5.	451/ 2024	Prabhjeet Singh	2207050 00228	Network Management IT Support Data Analytic s	48.75481 44.00481 80.25481	Ex- Servicemen General Self Male	Special ion off:69.2 23 Special ion off:88.2 52 Special ion off:142 444 izat cut- 71 izat cut- 08 izat cut- .15
6.	461/ 2024	Baljeet Kaur	2207020 01060	Human Resource Management	85.52859	General Female	Special ion off:143 324 izat cut- .01
7.	464/ 2024	Yuvraj Singh	2207030 00693	Programming Coding /	66.12395	SC (M&B) Male	Special ion f up byo reserva categor (Para 27123 izat illed ther tion ies 9.6)
				Network Management Data Analytic s	73.62395 101.12395		Special ion f up byo reserva categor (Para 27123 Special ion off:142 444 izat illed ther tion ies 9.6) izat cut- .15
8.	751/ 2024	Gurpreet Singh	2207020 00314	Programming Coding Network Management Data Analytic / s	25.72729 44.22729 51.97729	Ex- Servicemen SC (R&O) – Vimukat Jati/Bazigar Self Male	Special ion off:64.5 82 Special ion off:69.2 23 Special ion izat cut- 81 izat cut- 71 izat cut-

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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9.	752/ 2024	Kartik Singla	2207020 00620	Data Mining Data Analytic Programming Coding s /	103.23816 117.23816 64.988156	Sports General Male	off:142 444 Special ion off:146 659 Special ion off:142 444 Sports Genera Cut-off 752987 .15 izat cut- .13 izat cut- .15 l 5
10	757/ 2024	Baghicha Singh	2207020 00926	Community Victim Support &	67.07894	Ex- Servicemen BC Self Male	. Special ion cu : 117.990 izat t-off 84
11.	776/ 2024	Pavan Kamboj	2207060 02555	Human Resource Management	146.00577	B.C Male	Special ion f up byo reserva categor (Para 9 izat illed ther tion ies .6)
12.	803/ 2024	Sahil Kumar	2207050 01586	Human Resource Management	55.21782	SC (M&B) Male	Special ion cu 143.013 izat t-off 24
13	841/ 2024	Satpal Singh	2207060 00258	System Administratio Network Management Data Analytic n s	106.43312 96.68312 116.43312	General Male	Genera Male off 132.368 l Cut- : 61
14.	871/ 2024	Anjani Verma	2207010 00367	Human Resource Management	107.26061	General Female	Special ion cu 143.013 izat t-off 24
15.	971/ 2024	Jagwinder Singh	2207030 0896	Human Resource Management	61.32594	SC (M&B) Male	Special ion cu 143.013 izat t-off 24
16.	1008 /202 4	Akshay Bharial	2207040 00280	Data Analytic Programming Coding Network Management s /	126.05315 78.55315 90.30315	SC (R&O) Male	Special ion cu 142.154 SC (R& Male off 99.6150 izat t-off 44 O) cut- 1

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M) - 27-

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Re s ervation point is treated as filled/ consumed only when the candidate actua l ly joins the post in the direct re c ruitment. As per instructions o f the Government of Punjab and as per provisions o f the Advertisement(s), any unfi l led reserved vacan c y would be carried forward in the respective reservation cate g ory to the next recr u itment.

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CONCLUSION

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A perusal of advertisement sh o ws that as per clause 9.6 of advertisement d ated 09.09.2021, it is clearly m e ntioned as to how the selection list would be prep a red. There is no ambiguity i n the same and therefore, lear n ed Single Judge h a s rightly observed that after p a rticipating in the selection pro c ess the appellants/petitioners cannot challenge the p rovisional merit list on the gro u nd that no reservat i on policy has been followed b y the respondents while making the selections as re f erred to above. In clause 9.6 it has been categorically explai n ed that how the sel e ction list would be prepared.

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Fu r ther when the advertisement w a s issued clause 9.6 of the same w as very much in the knowledge of the appellants a n d they never challenged clause 9.6 wherein the pre p aration of the selection list has b een categorically explained.

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A p erusal of written synopsis of t he State shows that as per on l ine application for m submitted by the candidate na m ely Sh. Rahul Dika with Roll N o. 220706001947 (LPA No. 349/ 2024 in CWP N o. 14105 of 2023), the candi d ate had applied u n der Ward of Police Personnel (WPP) reservation category. T he candidate durin g submission of his online app l ication form had also uploaded his father's Identif i cation card to support his c a ndidature under Ward of Po l ice TRIPTI SAINIPersonnel (WP P ) reservation category. As the candidate namely Sh. Rahul D ika 2024.11.07 11:00 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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with Roll No. 2 20706001947 had neither uplo a ded his Ward of Police Perso n nel certificate, issu e d by the office of the Directo r General of Police, Punjab, du r ing submission of his online application form, n or submitted his Ward of Police Personnel certi f icate during Document Scrutin y process, the candidate namely Sh. Rahul Dika wit h Roll No. 220706001947 was considered as unreserved/ gen e ral/ open candidat e . The candidate namely S h . Rahul Dika with Roll N o. 220706001947 had applied in Human Res o urce Management Specializat i on/ Domain. The c ut-off marks in Human Res o urce Management Specializat i on/ Domain irrespective of reservation category is 143.01324/ 200 (at serial nu m ber 84). The candidate namely Sh. Rahul Dika w ith Roll No. 220706001947 has obtained 132.8 4 896/ 200 marks, which are le s s than the Specialization/ Do m ain cut-off. Thus, t he candidate was unable to s ecure a place in the provisi o nal Selection List. Further, since the candidate b e longs to Scheduled caste (M & B) social category , the candidate was charged R s.1100/- for submitting his on l ine application for m , in accordance with the provi s ions mentioned in para 20.2 of the advertisement, w hich is reproduced as followin g :

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"2 0 .2 APPLICATION FEE

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20.2.1 Application fees for o p ting for a minimum of one

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Sp e cialization/ Function shall be c h arged as under:

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*Sr.* *No.*	*Category*	*Application Fee* s
1.	General	Rs.2000/-
2.	SC/ST/BC	Rs.1100/-
3.	EWS	Rs.1100/-

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LPA-313-2024 (O&M)

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4. Ex-Servicemen / Lineal Rs.900/Descendants

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20.2.2 The in c remental Application fees to be charged for every additi o nal Specialization/ F unction shall be Rs. 600/- for a ll categories. "

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Th e Provisional Selection Lis t (Sub-Inspectors) published on 25.05.2023 and Provisional Selection List (C o nstables) published on 06.12.2 0 23 are in accordan c e with the rules/ instructions o f Government of Punjab, Stan d ing Order No. 7 of 2021 (recruitment of Sub-Insp e ctors) & Standing Order No. 6 of 2021 (recruitm e nt of Constables), Advertisement No. 7 of 2021 dated 09.09.2 0 21 (recruitment of Sub-Inspectors) & Advertisem e nt No. 6 of 2021 dated 09.09.2 0 21 (recruitment of C onstables) and subsequent Cor r igendum(s). 17. Th e refore, in view of the above , the above-numbered appeals are dismissed bein g devoid of any merit. The ju d gment dated 22.01.2024 passe d by the learned Sin g le Judge in CWP-12331-2023 t itled as “ Sukhdev Singh Vs. State of Punjab and Others ” and other connected pet i tions is upheld.

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Pe n ding applications, if any, also s t and disposed of. 19. A p hotocopy of this order be pla c ed on the files of other conne c ted

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cases.

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(SURESHWAR THAKUR) (SUDEEPTI SHARMA) JUDGE JUDGE

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October 14, 20 2 4 tripti W h ether speaking/non-speaking : S peaking W h ether reportable : Y es

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Rikul Chhatwal v. State of Punjab and Others

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Rikul Chhatwal v. State of Punjab and Others

Case brief

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