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REPORTABLE IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1676 OF 2016

[@ SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) NO. 37555 OF 2012] HINA                                       Appellant(s)

                               VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS.                      Respondent(s)

J U D G M E N T

KURIAN, J. 1. Leave granted.    2. The short question which arises in this appeal is  whether  the  second  respondent-Corporation  was  justified  in  rejecting  the  application  of  the  appellant  for  allotment  of  retail  outlet  of  petroleum/diesel dealership at location Kalamnuri in  District Hingoli in the State of Maharashtra, on the  ground that the age proof submitted by her was not of  the  Secondary  School  as  per  the  norms,  but  of  a  Higher Secondary School.     3. It  is  not  in  dispute  that  the  appellant  had  submitted  an  attested  copy  of  the  School  Leaving  Certificate issued by Shri Shanti Vidya Mandir Higher  Secondary School, Shiradshahpur, Hingoli, which is of  a  Higher  Secondary  School.   That  certificate  was

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issued  by  the  Principal  of  the  school  and  the  appellant had produced an attested copy of the same.  

4. The High Court, in the impugned Judgment, held as  under :-

"We  find  that  though  the  approach  of  the  

Corporation seems to be technical, however,  

the petitioner could have submitted proof of  

age as required by the Corporation and in  

accordance with the clauses set out in the  

advertisement.  It would not be proper to  

direct the Corporation to add/amend or alter  

the conditions of advertisement."

 5. The application was rejected, as already noted,  on  the ground  that the  appellant had  not complied  with  the  requirement  in  terms  of  Clause  2(c)  of  Eligibility Criteria.  Clause 2(c) reads as under :-

"(c) Age - As on date of Application  

(In completed years) : not less than 21  

years.   Enclose  an  attested  copy  of  

either Matriculation or Secondary School  

Leaving Certificate indicating date of  

birth  or  identity  card  issued  by  

election  commission  or  PAN  card  or  

Passport  or  an  affidavit  as  proof  of

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age."

6. The learned counsel for the Corporation contends  that the requirement being attested copy of Secondary  School  Leaving  Certificate,  the  Corporation  was  justified in rejecting the application since what had  been produced before them was an attested copy of the  Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate.  It is  also  submitted  that  in  all  those  cases  where  the  applicants  had  not  strictly  complied  with  the  requirement as per the Eligibility Criteria notified  by  the  Corporation,  the  Corporation  has  rejected  those applications.  Whether the dispute pertained to  the same issue as raised by the appellant herein is  not clear.   

7. It  is  seen  from  the  Eligibility  Criteria,  as  extracted above, even an Affidavit was sufficient as  proof of age.  Be that as it may, in case, the copy  of the Secondary School Leaving Certificate meets the  requirement of the Eligibility Criteria, we fail to  understand as to how does it make a difference in  case the School Leaving Certificate is of the Higher  Secondary  School.   The  learned  counsel  for  the  Corporation was at pains to explain before us that  the Secondary School Leaving Ceritificate is issued  by the Board whereas the School Leaving Certificate

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of  the  Higher  Secondary  School  is  issued  by  the  School.   School  Leaving  Certificate,  as  the  very  expression indicates, is issued by the School since  the pupil leaves the school.  Annexure P1, which was  produced by the appellant before the Corporation is  captioned  as  "School  Leave  Certificate".   The  requirement  of  the  Corporation  is  only  a  proof  regarding the age.  No doubt, certain documents are  specified in the Eligibility Criteria which would be  accepted  by  the  Corporation  as  proof  of  age.   In  case,  a  copy  of  the  Secondary  School  Leaving  Certificate can be accepted as proof of age, it does  not even strike to common sense as to why the copy of  the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certiciate, duly  attested, cannot be accepted as proof of age.  The  High Court, however, is not correct in its approach.  The clarification we have made does not in any way  amend the criteria.    

8. Mr. S. M. Jadhav, learned counsel appearing for  Respondent No. 4, apart from supporting the arguments  advanced by the learned counsel for the Corporation,  also  submits that  during the  pendency of  the writ  petition in the High Court, the 4th Respondent had  already been allotted the outlet.  Obviously, that  will be subject to the selection to be conducted by  the Corporation after allowing the participation of

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the appellant herein as well.   

9. Accordingly, we allow this appeal, set aside the  Judgment  passed  by  the  High  Court  and  direct  the  second  respondent-Corporation  to  conduct  the  selection afresh, allowing the participation of the  appellant herein as well along with those who have  been considered as eligible by the Corporation.  The  needful shall be done within a period of two months  from today.   

No costs.        .......................J.

             [ KURIAN JOSEPH ]  

.......................J.               [ ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN ]  New Delhi; February 23, 2016.