IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH SHIMLA CWP No. 1273 of 2005. Date of Decision: July 25, 2008 Kiran Kumari …Petitioner. Versus. Union of India and others. …Respondents. Coram: The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice V.K.Ahuja, Judge. Whether approved for Reporting? No. For the petitioner: Mr. J.R.Poswal, Advocate. For the Respondent No. 1 and 2.: Mr. Sandeep Sharma, Asstt. Solicitor General. For the Respondent No. 3 Mr. Vishal Panwar, Advocate. Per Deepak Gupta, J. This petition is directed against the order of the learned Central Administrative Tribunal dated 30.8.2005 in O.A. No. 973-HP of 2003 whereby the appointment of the petitioner as Gramin Dak Sewak Branch Post Master (GDSBPM) has been set aside and the respondents No. 1 and 2 were directed to consider the respondent No.3 for appointment to the said post. Briefly stated, the facts are that the post of GDSBPM, Post Office, Matla, fell vacant. Admittedly, village Matla, no longer exists and most of the area of this village has been submerged in the Bhakra Dam. However, the post office continues under the name and style of Matla though it is actually situated in village Grahan. This post office caters to the need of a number of villages including village Kulhan to which respondent No.3 belongs. When the vacancy in question arose, the Senior Superintendent of Post Office, Hamirpur, invited applications for appointment to the said post. Applications were invited through employment exchange Ghumarwin and the applicants could also apply directly. In the requisition sent to the employment exchange it was mentioned that the persons who are sponsored by the employment exchange should belong to village Matla. The last date of submission of direct applications was 10.6.2003 and the employment exchange was expected to sponsor the names latest by 15.7.2003. The employment exchange did not sponsor the name of respondent No.3 on the ground that her residence was not shown in village Matla and in the requisition it was stated that only the candidates belong to village Matla should be sponsored. The house of respondent No.3 is situated only at a distance of 500 mts. from the post office in question. When the employment exchange did not sponsor her name, the respondent No.3 sent an application for appointment directly to the Senior Superintendent of Post Office by speed post on 14th July, 2003. This application was not considered on the ground that it had not been sent within time. The candidature of the respondent No.3 was not considered on the ground that the application sent by her had been received after the last date and her name has not been sponsored by the employment exchange. The respondent No.3 approached the learned Tribunal. The learned Tribunal held that no condition could have been imposed that only persons belonging to village Matla could apply for the post. It was also noticed that whereas for direct candidates the last date for receipt of application was fixed as 10th June, 2003, the names sent through the employment exchange were received on 23rd July, 2003 and on that date the application of the respondent No.3 had also reached the concerned authority. The stand of the respondents No. 1 and 2 before the learned Tribunal was that they had never insisted or imposed a condition that only residents of village Matla could apply for the post. Once the respondents have taken this stand, it is obvious that the employment exchange should have sponsored the name of the respondent No.3. Her name was not sponsored because of the condition in the requisition. It has been urged before us that since respondent No.3 had applied late her application should not have been entertained. We cannot accept this contention. We are of the view that in fact it was the duty of the employment exchange to have sponsored her name and therefore, the mere fact that she applied individually should not come in her way. In view of the above discussion, we find no error in the order of the learned Tribunal. The writ petition is rejected with on order as to costs. ( Deepak Gupta ), J. July 25, 2008. ( V.K.Ahuja ). J. ™