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2025 DAILYLAW 17450 (UTT)

MARGRATE A CHAND v. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

WPSS/2227/2024 · 2025-11-06

Manoj Kumar Tiwari

body2025

Judgment text

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2025:UHC:9797 SL. No. Dat e Of f ice Not es, r ep or t s, or d er s or p r oceed in g s or d ir ect ion s an d Reg ist r ar ’s or d er w it h Sig n at u r es COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS W PSS 2 2 2 7 / 2 0 2 4 Hon ’ble Man oj Ku m ar Tiw ar i, J. Mr. Vinay Kumar, Advocate, for the petitioner. Mr. Ganesh Datt Kandpal, Deputy AG, for the State. Mr. Rakshit Srivastava, Advocate, i/ b Mr. Ramji Srivastava, Advocate for the respondent no. 3. Mr. Atul Bahuguna, Advocate, for the respondent no. 4. (2) Petitioner responded to an advertisement dated 11.3.2024, issued by Uttarakhand Medical Service Selection Board inviting applications for the post of Nursing Officer, Male/ Female. One of the conditions mentioned in the advertisement at clause 6 was that every candidate must be registered with Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council. Petitioner responded to the said advertisement and she participated in the selection process, but during document verification, it was found that validity period of petitioner’s registration with Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council expired on 23.4.2020. On this ground alone, petitioner was declared to be ineligible. Thus feeling aggrieved, petitioner has approached this Court. (3) Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner passed Diploma in Nursing Course from Pannadhai Ma Subharathi Nursing College, Meerut in the year 2014 and she got herself registered with Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council on 24.4.2015; in the registration certificate, there was nothing to indicate that registration would be valid only for five years 2025:UHC:9797 and she was informed that her registration had expired only during document verification done by the selecting body. He further submits that petitioner thereafter applied for renewal of her registration on 27.6.2024 and her registration was renewed by the Council on the same day. (4) Per contra, learned State Counsel submits that, as per the advertisement, every candidate must have valid registration with Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council on the last day of submission of application; the validity of petitioner’s registration expired much earlier on 23.4.2020, therefore it shall be deemed that on the last date of submission of application, petitioner was not registered with Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council and thus was ineligible for appointment. (5) Learned Counsel for the petitioner, however, submits that since the registration certificate possessed by the petitioner does not contain any stipulation regarding its validity period and, earlier, the registration once made with the Council was to remain valid during the lifetime of the concerned candidate and the condition regarding validity period of five years was subsequently introduced in 2019. Learned Counsel thus submits that the restriction regarding validity period, introduced in 2019, cannot have any application to the registration made in 2014 or any date before enforcement of that condition. Even otherwise, he submits that once the registration certificate is renewed, even though after the last date of submission of application, then that will relate back to the date of registration of the concerned candidate with the Uttarakhand Nurses and Midwives Council and, therefore, rejection of petitioner’s candidature is unjust and illegal. 2025:UHC:9797 (6) The order whereby petitioner’s candidature was rejected is on record as Annexure-12 to the writ petition. Perusal thereof reveals that the aforesaid relevant aspects, as highlighted by learned Counsel for the petitioner, were not considered by Secretary of the selecting body. The law is well settled that a decision taken by the administrative authority, without considering relevant aspects, is bad in law. Since right to be considered for public employment is a fundamental right available to every citizen, therefore, that right cannot be lightly interfered. (7) Since relevant aspects were not considered by the Secretary of the selecting body while holding the petitioner to be ineligible, therefore, writ petition is allowed. Impugned order qua the petitioner is set aside. The matter is relegated to the Secretary of the selecting body to revisit the issue in the light of the issues raised by learned Counsel for the petitioner, as discussed in the foregoing paragraphs of this judgment. This Court hopes and expects that Secretary concerned shall take decision afresh within four weeks from the date of presentation of certified copy of this judgment. For a period of four weeks or till the decision is taken, whichever is earlier, one post of Nursing Officer shall be kept vacant. ( Man oj Ku m ar Tiw ar i, J.) 6 .1 1 .2 0 2 5 Pr PRABODH KUMAR Digitally signed by PRABODH KUMAR DN: c=IN, o=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, ou=HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND, 2.5.4.20=3a082a00a95aff911a9559743af8f21c50602ff6eae4e61af3aeab198d462503, postalCode=263001, st=UTTARAKHAND, serialNumber=0DC111E8D8CA66E16B940EFDF806ACCC1AB588052DF6FCA58C67F3C91957BE53, cn=PRABODH KUMAR Date: 2025.11.06 18:04:39 +05'30' 2025:UHC:9797