No Age Relaxation for Delhi Police Constable Aspirants: High Court Upholds Tribunal’s Decision
In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court today upheld the Central Administrative Tribunal’s decision, denying interim relief for age relaxation to candidates who became over-aged due to the non-conduct of the Constable (Executive) recruitment examination by Delhi Police in the years 2021 and 2022. The bench comprising Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta dismissed the petitions challenging the Tribunal’s order.
“We are of the view that in the peculiar facts of this case, no interim order can be granted,” Justice V. Kameswar Rao stated, emphasizing the court’s stance against modifying the recruitment process in light of the petitioners’ requests.
The petitioners had sought relief based on the premise that the recruitment process’s delay, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, had inadvertently caused them to surpass the age eligibility criteria. Despite empathetic arguments highlighting the unprecedented impact of the pandemic on recruitment schedules, the High Court observed that any concession would disrupt the established selection procedure.
“It will create a separate category/class of applicants with vested right for age relaxation which is not the intention of the framers of the Recruitment Rules,” the court noted, acknowledging the potential for widespread implications had the relaxation been granted.
The High Court’s decision comes as a reminder of the strict adherence to recruitment rules, even amidst the petitioners’ citing of several precedents where age relaxation had been granted under extraordinary circumstances. The bench clarified that such measures were case-specific and could not be generalized.
The judgment has significant implications for thousands of aspirants who had pinned their hopes on the judiciary to intervene in a matter that has been a point of contention since the pandemic disrupted recruitment calendars across the nation. With this ruling, the examination for the post of Constable (Executive) in Delhi Police is set to proceed as scheduled, without concessions for those who have aged out of the eligibility criteria.
Date of Decision: November 07, 2023
AMANT KUMAR AND ORS VS THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND ORS.
