IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. LPA No. 1146 of 2009 Date of Decision: September 8, 2010 Harpreet Singh …Appellant Versus State of Punjab and others …Respondents CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.M. KUMAR HON’BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present: Mr. K.G. Chaudhry, Advocate, for the appellant. Mr. Suvir Sehgal, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, for the respondents. 1. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 2. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? M.M. KUMAR, J. The instant appeal is directed against judgment dated 26.5.2009, rendered by the learned Single Judge while dismissing CWP No. 231 of 2009, filed by the appellant. 2. The short question which arises for consideration is whether the appellant qualified on the cut-off date to be eligible for appointment to the post of Constable Operator/Messenger. It is conceded that in the advertisement for recruitment of Constable Operators/Messengers, the last date for receipt of applications was 7.7.2006 (P-1). In the advertisement, under the heading of ‘Eligibility Conditions’, in para III(a), for the post of Operator/Messenger, inter alia, the following educational qualifications were prescribed:- “(a) Operators/Messengers: Two years ITI course or equivalent LPA No. 1146 of 2009 or one year course with one year experience from an institute, such courses having been recognized by Punjab State Technical Education Board/Department of Technical Education, Punjab/Department of Information Technology, Punjab.” 3. The requisite qualifications acquired by the appellant is subsequent to the cut-off date of 7.7.2006. The argument of the learned counsel that subsequently the last date for receipt of application was extended to 1.2.2007 also did not find favour with the learned Single Judge because the appellant has acquired the requisite qualification on 23.2.2007. 4. Having heard learned counsel we are of the considered view that the issue is no longer res integra. Hon’ble the Supreme Court in various judgments has held that the last date of receipt of applications is considered to be the cut-off date for determining the eligibility of a candidate in respect of his age, educational qualifications and other things. In that regard reliance may be placed on the judgments of Hon’ble the Supreme Court rendered in the cases of M.V. Nair v. Union of India, (1993) 2 SCC 429 and Rakha Chaturvedi v. University of Rajasthan, (1993) Suppl. 3 SCC 168. There is, thus, no merit in the instant appeal warranting admission. Accordingly, the appeal fails and the same is dismissed. (M.M. KUMAR) JUDGE (RITU BAHRI) September 8, 2010 JUDGE Pkapoor 2