BHANU PRATAP versus STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS.

Citation: [2011] 9 S.C.R. 736 · Decided: 02-08-2011 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA · Disposal: Dismissed

Judgment (excerpt)

[2011] 9 S.C.R. 736 
A 
BHANU PRATAP 
+ .. ' 
v. 
STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS. 
(Civil Appeal No. 6205 of 2011) 
8 
AUGUST 02, 2011 
~ 
[DR. MUKUNDAKAM SHARMA AND 
... 
ANIL R. DAVE, JJ.] 
Haryana Civil Services (Judicial Branch) Rules : 
c rr. 7(1), 7(2), 8(1), 9- Haryana Civil Services (Judicial Branch) 
Examination advertised in 2003 for the post of judicial officer 
- Qualifying marks in written examination and viva voce for 
selection - Rounding off or relaxation in marks or giving 
grace marks - Permissibility of - Held: In order to qualify in 
} 
D the written examination, a candidate has to obtain at/east 33% 
... 
marks in each of the papers and at/east 50% qualifying marks 
~ 
in the aggregate in all the written papers - Candidate cannot 
be considered as qualified in the examination unless he 
obtains at least 50% marks in the aggregate including viva 
E voce - There is no power provided in the statute nor any such 
stipulation is made in the advertisement and also in statutory 
rules permitting any rounding off or giving grace marks so as 
to bring up a candidate to the minimum requirement - The 
-..+ 
Rules are statutory in nature and no dilution or amendment 
to such Rules is permissible or possible by adding some 
~ 
F 
• 
words to the said statutory rules for giving benefit of rounding 
off or relaxation - In the instant case, respondent obtained 
total aggregate marks of 508 out of 1020 total marks, i.e., 
49.8% and since marks obtained by him was short of the 
G qualifying marks of 50%, he failed to qualify in terms of r.B of 
the Rules and was rightly not appointed to the post of judicial 
officer. 
An advertisement was issued Jn 2003 for filling up 73 
posts of Subordinate Judges under the Haryana Civil 
H 
736 
BHANU PRATAP v. STATE OF HARYANA AND ORS. 737 
Services (Judicial Branch) Examination. The appellant A 
appeared in the writtel) tests and was declared 
successful and thereafter he was called for interview. He 
failed to qualify in terms of Rule 8 of the Haryana Civil 
Services [Judicial Branch] Rules and was not appointed 
to the said post. The appellant filed a writ of mandamus 
B 
before the High Court seeking direction for his 
appointment .to the post of Judicial Officer. In the writ 
petition, his contention was that he received total 
aggregate marks of 508 out of 1020 total marks, i.e., 49.8% 
and since the marks obtained by him was short of the c 
qualifying marks of 50% by just two marks, the same 
should be rounded off to 50% in aggregate. The High 
Court dismissed the writ petition. The instant appeal was 
filed challenging the order of the High Court. 
Dismissing the appeal, the Court 
HELD: 1.1. Appointment to the post of ;Subordinate 
Judge (Haryana Civil Services Judicial Branch) is guided 
D 
by the Haryana Civil Services [Judicial Branch] Rules, 
which are statutory in nature. Rule 7(1), 7 (2) and 8(1) 
E 
specifically deal with the minimum marks that a 
candidate has to obtain to qualify in the written test and 
also for selection. In the advertisement issued by the 
respondents for filling up the said post along with 
instructions and information for candidates, it was 
F 
specifically mentioned that the syllabus of the 
examination would be as contained in Schedule under 
Rule 9 of para 'C' of the Rules relating to the appointment 
of Subordinate Judges in Haryana. The said syllabus 
was set out in detail showing the compulsory papers, G 
description of subjects, maximum marks for each 
subject. It was also communicated that for viva-voce test 
there will be 120 marks. The Rules with regard to the 
conduct of the written examination were also set out 
therein. In clause (g)(i) thereof it was indicated that no 
H 
738 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[2011) 9 S.C.R. 
A candidate shall be considered to have qualified in the 
examination unless he obtains at least 50% marks in the 
aggregate of all papers including viva-voce test. It was 
also stated thereafter in the advertisement that the merit 
of the qualified candidates shall be determined by the 
B Haryana Public ·Service Commission strictly according to 
1 
the aggregate marks obtained in the written papers and · 
viva-voce, For the"viva-voce test, it was provided in the 
advertisement that it will be a test relating to the matters 
of general interest and is intended to test the candidate's 
c alertness, intelligence and general outlook. It was 
reiterated thereunder also that the merit of the qualified 
candidates would be 

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