Karnataka State Seeds Recruitment Case: Supreme Court Rules on Eligibility Criteria

The case of The Karnataka State Seeds Development Corporation Limited & Anr. v. Smt. H.L. Kaveri & Ors. revolves around the eligibility criteria for recruitment to government positions. The key issue in this case was whether an applicant who failed to submit the required experience certificate at the time of application could be considered for selection afterward.

Background of the Case

The Karnataka State Seeds Development Corporation Limited issued an advertisement on November 11, 2013, inviting applications for various positions, including Senior Assistant and Junior Assistant, under the backlog vacancies category. The advertisement clearly specified that applicants must submit a work experience certificate of three years for Senior Assistant and two years for Junior Assistant in a reputed company. It was also mentioned that incomplete applications would be rejected without assigning any reason.

The respondent, Smt. H.L. Kaveri, applied for both positions but failed to enclose the required experience certificate. As a result, her application was rejected. She later approached the High Court, claiming that she should still be considered based on her qualification and marks.

Arguments by the Parties

• Petitioner (Karnataka State Seeds Development Corporation Limited): The corporation argued that the respondent’s application was incomplete due to the missing experience certificate and was, therefore, rightfully rejected. It also noted that 31 applications for Senior Assistant and 106 applications for Junior Assistant had been rejected for similar reasons.
• Respondent (Smt. H.L. Kaveri): The respondent contended that she possessed the required experience at the time of application and that the omission was a minor mistake. She argued that denying her appointment on this technicality would be unfair, especially as she belonged to a Scheduled Caste category and had scored higher marks than some selected candidates.

Supreme Court’s Observations

The Supreme Court examined the records and found:

• The respondent had not enclosed the experience certificate, as verified by the Single Judge of the High Court.
• The recruitment process explicitly required all necessary documents to be submitted along with the application.
• The corporation had rejected other applicants for the same reason, ensuring uniformity in the selection process.
• The High Court’s decision to grant relief based on “peculiar facts” was incorrect, as it interfered with the rights of other eligible candidates.

The Court held:

“We do not find any error being committed by the Corporation in its decision-making process while rejecting the application of the 1st respondent for non-fulfillment of the necessary experience certificate which was to be enclosed along with the application as required in terms of the advertisement.”

Final Verdict

The Supreme Court allowed the appeal and set aside the Karnataka High Court’s judgment, ruling that the corporation had acted correctly in rejecting incomplete applications. The respondent was not entitled to any special consideration for failing to meet the application requirements.

Petitioner Name: The Karnataka State Seeds Development Corporation Limited & Anr..
Respondent Name: Smt. H.L. Kaveri & Ors..
Judgment By: Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, Justice Ajay Rastogi.
Place Of Incident: Karnataka.
Judgment Date: 21-01-2020.

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