Delhi HC Rules OBC-NCL Certificate Date: The Delhi High Court recently held that the the date of issuance of an Other Backward Class – Non-Creamy Layer (OBC-NCL) certificate cannot be a disqualifying factor and directed Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to consider the candidature of OBC candidates who were earlier rejected in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) recruitment cycle solely due to the certificate falling outside the stipulated cut-off window.
Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla said, “It is well-settled that the authority concerned has the power to stipulate cut-off periods. However, such a cut-off period must be free from arbitrariness and/or unreasonableness.”
The court added, “The concerned authority cannot exercise unfettered discretion.”
The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by OBC candidates who qualified the written exam of CAPF in 2023 and 2024 but were facing cancellation of their candidature solely on the ground that the issuance date of their respective OBC-NCL certificates was beyond the given cut-off window.
The court noted that all the petitioners had submitted their respective OBC-NCL certificates, but they were not issued within the stipulated window and were therefore allegedly rejected by the UPSC.
Rule 21.2 of the CAPF (AC) Examination Rules states that OBC-NCL certificates are mandatory certificates that should be furnished by the OBC candidates for reservation in employment. These certificates should be issued and fall within the prescribed timeframe, i.e., beginning of a financial year (every 1st April) and ending on the last date for submission of applications for the examination.
Legitimate expectations, constitutional rights
The court noted that there was a legitimate expectation of reasonableness from the administrative body and their actions not to deprive an individual of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
Story continues below this ad
The court highlighted that the timeframe granted to candidates to submit their OBC-NCL certificates for availing the benefits of reservations should not be a rigid way to defeat the “very purpose of such reservations”.
The high court emphasised that the power of stipulating such cut-off periods must be balanced with the rights owed to the candidates under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India.
“Administrative/ Regulatory/ Constitutional bodies cannot adopt an overly scrupulous and unyielding approach,” the order read.
Directions to UPSC
In its December 10 order, the court directed the UPSC to consider the candidature of the petitioners at their respective stages of the selection process after completing the verification of the OBC-NCL certificates provided by them.
Story continues below this ad
The court also ruled that the certificates must be considered as long as they were issued within the relevant financial year (April 1st to March 31st), pointing out that the original cut-off date should not be a factor for disqualification.
Arguments
The UPSC contended that prescribing cut-off dates was essential for maintaining administrative consistency and that “the rules of the game cannot be changed once the game has begun.”
On the contrary, the candidates argued that they were given a 20-day window by the UPSC which had “no nexus” with the objective of providing reservation to deserving candidates, and also pointed out that no purpose was served by making such a stringent stipulation, which neither had any “rationale nor appears to be fair or reasonable”.
The petitioners further contended that even if the certificate was prior to or post the cut-off date, it was still valid for the entire year.
Story continues below this ad
The court said, “The cut-off period was itself introduced midway and led to deprivation of fundamental rights under Article 16(4) of our Constitution.”
