LexPRIYANKA PRAKASH KULKARNI versus MAHARASHTRA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
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[2024] 1 S.C.R. 1223 : 2024 INSC 98 Priyanka Prakash Kulkarni v. Maharashtra Public Service Commission Civil Appeal No. 1982 of 2024 29 January 2024 [Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Appellant was not able to take benefit of female reservation on account of her inability to produce a valid Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) certificate on the last date of submission of the application form. Later, a corrigendum enabled candidates to submit an NCL certificate valid in the current financial year. However, the High Court held that since the petitioner had applied from Open General Category because she did not hold the NCL certificate, her prayer for change of category cannot be accepted. Headnotes Service Law – Female Reservation – Non-Creamy Layer certificate – Change of category – Appellant contended that she did not submit her application under the ‘Reserved Female Category’ on account of her inability to obtain an NCL Certificate which was valid as on the last date of submission of the application form i.e., 01.06.2022 – However, upon the issuance of the Corrigendum, the appellants’ eligibility qua the ‘Reserved Female Category’ came to be revived as the appellant was no longer mandated to furnish an NCL Certificate which was valid as on the last date of submission of the application form but instead was called upon to furnish an NCL Certificate pertaining to current financial year: Held: Admittedly, the appellant i.e., a candidate who was scrupulously following the terms and conditions of the impugned advertisement was constrained to apply under the ‘Open General Category’ only on account of certain logistical limitations prevent- ing her from obtaining a valid NCL Certificate – Consequently, in the absence of the requisite documents evidencing status as a 1224 [2024] 1 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports person belonging to the NCL under the impugned advertisement read with the Circular i.e., a valid NCL Certificate as on the date of submission of the application form, the appellant did not mark ‘yes’ against the specific question pertaining to her status as a person belonging to the NCL – The aforenoted conduct of the appellant is bonafide – Accordingly, the appellant cannot be unfairly deprived of the benefit of female reservation merely on account of the appellant’s honesty and restraint which did not allow her to mark ‘yes’ against a column inquiring about a prospective candidates’ status as a person belonging to the NCL, in the absence of the underlying supporting document – Additionally, other similarly situated candidates have been granted the benefit under the Corrigendum; and their otherwise defective applications have now been considered by the Respondent – The High Court adopted a hypertechnical interpretation of the instructions without appreciating that such an interpretation would nullify the effect of the Corrigendum – Impugned order set aside. [Paras 16, 17, 18] Case Law Cited State of T.N. v. G. Hemalathaa (2020) 19 SCC 430 – referred to. List of Keywords Service Law; Female reservation; Non-creamy Layer certificate; Eligibility qua ‘reserved female category; hypertechnical interpretation of instructions; Benefit of corrigendum; Relaxed instructions. Case Arising From CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.1982 of 2024 From the Judgment and Order dated 23.08.2023 of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in WP No.9040 of 2023 Appearances for Parties Abhijeet Pawar, Praveen B. Kamble, Lalit Kaushik, Dinesh Bhardwaj, Sashank Gaurav, Amit Sharma, Advs. for the Appellant. Rahul Chitnis, Garv Singh, Ms. Samiksha Gupta, Chander Shekhar Ashri, Advs. for the Respondent. [2024] 1 S.C.R. 1225 Priyanka Prakash Kulkarni v. Maharashtra Public Service Commission Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Order 1. Leave granted. 2. The decision of the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay (the “High Court”) wherein the High dismissed Writ Petition No. 9040 of 2023; and consequently, granted imprimatur to the decision of the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai (the “MAT”) dated 07.07.2023 in Original Application No. 396 of 2023 (the “OA”) is assailed before us (the “Impugned Order”). 3. An advertisement was issued by the Respondent on 11.05.2022 in relation to the State Services Preliminary Examination for the recruitment of person(s) to the gazetted post of ‘Group A’ and ‘Group B’ officers under
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