IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C.W.P. No. 14168 of 2009 DATE OF DECISION : 10.09.2009 Raj Dullar ... PETITIONER Versus Punjab State Electricity Board and others ..... RESPONDENTS CORAM :- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SATISH KUMAR MITTAL Present: Mr. Ranjivan Singh, Advocate, for the petitioner. * * * SATISH KUMAR MITTAL , J. (Oral ) The petitioner has filed this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for quashing the Corrigendum No. 15 dated 14.7.2009 (Annexure P-6) with respect to advertisement dated 12.1.2009 (Annexure P- 1), whereby not only the last date for submission of applications has been extended, but the date of eligibility has also been extended. In this case, the respondent Boad issued an advertisement on 12.1.2009 (Annexure P-1), whereby applications were invited from eligible candidates for the regular appointment on 225 posts of Junior Engineer (Electrical). The petitioner, who is working as Lineman in the respondent Board, has also applied for the post of Junior Engineer (Electrical) in General category. CWP No. 14168 of 2009 -2- It is the case of the petitioner that in the said advertisement, the last date for submission of the applications was fixed as 6.2.2009 and it was also stated that a candidate must possess the prescribed qualification upto the last date of submission of applications. It is further the case of the petitioner that vide corrigendum dated 5.2.2009, the last date for submission of applications was extended to 27.2.2009 and thereafter, it was further extended to 31.3.2009. It is the further case of the petitioner that on 30.3.2009, the respondent Board again extended the time upto 31.5.2009 and further upto 15.7.2009. It is further case of the petitioner that now, vide corrigendum dated 14.7.2009, the last date for submission of applications has again been extended to 13.9.2009. In nutshell, case of the petitioner is that the respondent Board has extended the last date for submission of the applications and even the date of eligibility, in an illegal and arbitrary manner, in order to make certain candidates eligible, who could not apply within the time earlier fixed by the respondent Board. It is alleged that this has been done to accommodate the son of the Chairman of the respondent Board, who has appeared in the B.E. (Computer Science) examination held in June, 2009. Learned counsel for the petitioner argued that the aforesaid extension of time to submit the applications against the advertised posts is illegal, arbitrary and malafide and the same cannot be sustained. In support of his contention, learned counsel has relied upon decision of the Supreme Court in Bhupinderpal Singh and others Versus State of Punjab and CWP No. 14168 of 2009 -3- others, 2000 (2) Recent Services Judgments 728. After hearing learned counsel for the petitioner, I do not find any merit in this petition. In my opinion, the employer has a prerogative to extend the last date for submitting the applications for a recruitment. No legal right of the petitioner has been infringed. In order to make a wider choice, the employer can extend the last date for submission of the applications as well as the date for determining the eligibility. The judgment cited by learned counsel for the petitioner is on a different proposition and it does not support the contention of the petitioner. Merely because the son of the Chairman of the respondent Board will also become eligible, it cannot be presumed that the respondent Board has extended the time with a malafide intention. Each and every candidate, who has now become eligible, has been permitted to apply and the selection will be made after conducting the written examination as well as the interview. Therefore, no prejudice is going to be caused to any body, including the petitioner. No merit. Dismissed. September 10, 2009 ( SATISH KUMAR MITTAL ) ndj JUDGE