Candidates who showed their qualification certificates during the interview cannot be fired, according to a Supreme Court order to reinstate UPPCL employees.
The Supreme Court has ruled that UPPCL employees must be reinstated, stating that candidates who provided the necessary qualification certificate during their interview cannot be dismissed. The Court supported the appeal from the applicants and ordered their return to the position of Technician Grade-II (Electrical) at the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL). These employees were let go because they had the Certificate in Computer Concepts (CCC) after the application deadline, even though they presented the certificate during their interviews, as required by the job advertisement. Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan noted, “We firmly believe that those candidates who were on the select list dated July 14, 2015, and showed the CCC certificate at their interview should not have been terminated. The respondent-Corporation made a serious mistake in ending their employment. However, we do not agree with candidates who did not have the CCC certificate at the time of their interview but obtained it later. Since the advertisement and the 1995 Regulations required the CCC certificate to be shown during the interview, allowing it to be submitted afterward would go against the rules.”
The recruitment process started when UPPCL announced 2,211 Technician Grade-II (Electrical) positions, requiring candidates to hold a CCC certificate or an equivalent qualification. UPPCL stated that candidates without the CCC certificate were not eligible, even if they showed it during the interview. The Allahabad High Court’s Single Bench ruled that having the CCC certificate by the interview date was enough for eligibility. However, a Division Bench of the High Court supported UPPCL’s decision to terminate these candidates.
The Supreme Court examined the terminations and found UPPCL’s interpretation to be inconsistent with its own office memorandum and previous court rulings, specifically in Mukul Kumar Tyagi v. State of Uttar Pradesh (2020). It determined that candidates who presented the CCC certificate at their interview met the eligibility requirements outlined in the original recruitment notice and should not have been dismissed. The Bench stated that candidates with a CCC certificate issued by DOEACC/NIELIT on the interview date and included in the select list from July 14, 2015, could not have been terminated by UPPCL.
The Court explained that its purpose was to review the qualifications of candidates who claimed to have equivalent certificates. This review was meant to ensure that those with equivalent computer qualifications could remain on the select list. Additionally, the direction from the Single Judge applied not only to candidates with a CCC certificate from DOEACC/NIELIT but also to those covered by the guidelines from May 3, 2016, who were considered equivalent to the CCC certificate. In the end, the Court supported the Single Judge’s decision and found no reason to change it. As a result, the Supreme Court approved the appeals.
Cause Title: Mukul Kumar Tyagi v. The State Of Uttar Pradesh & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024 INSC 832)
