Civil Writ Petition No.12203 of 2011 : 1 : IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Date of Decision: July 25, 2011 Kamal Sharma ...Petitioner Versus Haryana Staff Selection Commission, Panchkula ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RANJIT SINGH 1. Whether Reporters of local papers may be allowed to see the judgment? 2. To be referred to the Reporters or not? 3. Whether the judgment should be reported in the Digest? Present: Mr.D.S.Rawat, Advocate, for the petitioner. ***** RANJIT SINGH, J. The respondent-Commission has advertised 150 posts of Veterinary Live Stock Development Assistant in Animal Husbandry & Dairying Department. The essential qualifications for the posts are (i) Matric and (ii) Diploma in relevant Field. Last date for submission of application form in complete respect was 27.3.2009. Accordingly, this was the cut off date for submitting an application. Petitioner claims that he was fully eligible and has both the requisite qualifications mentioned in the advertisement and had applied for the post on 9.3.2009. The petitioner had attached the Marks Sheet of his Diploma course dated 6.9.2007 showing him pass in two years Diploma Course in Live-Stock Assistant, Session 2005-2007 along Civil Writ Petition No.12203 of 2011 : 2 : with his application form. The petitioner had not been awarded Diploma/Degree by the Institution. The petitioner ultimately was awarded Diploma on 20.2.2010. The Marks Sheet which was attached by the petitioner was not considered enough for the petitioner to be qualified for consideration. The application of the petitioner was rejected on the ground that he did not possess the academic qualification on the cut off date. He has not been called for interview. The petitioner accordingly has filed this writ petition to challenge this action. The main submission by the counsel for the petitioner is that once he has attended the exam and has received a Marks Sheet showing him pass in the Diploma, he cannot be considered ineligible so far as essential qualification is concerned. In support, the counsel has taken support from the observations made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Charles K. Skaria and others Vs.Dr.C.Mathew and others, AIR 1980 Supreme Court 1230. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has observed as under:- “Even so, there is a snag. Who are the diploma-holders eligible for 10 extra marks ? Only those who, at least by the final date for making applications for admissions possess the diploma. Acquisition of a diploma later may qualify him later, not this year. Otherwise, the dateline makes no sense. So, the short question is when can a candidate claim to have got a diploma? When he has done all that he has to do and the result of it is officially made known by the concerned authority. An examinee for a degree or diploma must Civil Writ Petition No.12203 of 2011 : 3 : complete his examination-written, oral or practical-before he can tell the selection committee or the court that he has done his part. Even this is not enough. If all goes well after that, he cannot be credited with the title to the degree if the results are announced only after the last date for applications but before selection. The second condition precedent must also be fulfilled, viz., the official communication of the result before the selection and its being brought to the ken of the committee in an authentic manner. May be, the examination is cancelled or the marks of the candidates are with-held. He acquires the degree or diploma only when the results are officially made known. Until then his qualification is inchoate. But once these events happen his qualification can be taken into account in evaluation of equal opportunity provided the selection committee has the result before it at the time of-not after-the selection is over. To sum up, the applicant for post-graduate degree course earns the right to the added advantage of diploma only if (a) he has completed the diploma examination on or before the last date for the application, (b) the result of the examination is also published before that date, and (c) the candidate's success in the diploma course is brought to the knowledge of the selection committee before completion of selection in an authentic or acceptable manner.” The ratio of law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court Civil Writ Petition No.12203 of 2011 : 4 : as noted above, may not strictly apply to the facts of the present case. In the case before Hon'ble Supreme Court, Diploma was not the essential eligibility qualification. The Diploma was to be taken into consideration for awarding extra marks, for which 10marks were reserved for the purpose. Where the Diploma is an essential qualification, the Marks Sheet cannot be equated with Diploma. It is only once the Diploma is issued that the petitioner can validly claim that he is holding a Diploma. I am, therefore, not inclined to interfere in exercise of writ jurisdiction against the action taken by the respondents. Dismissed. July 25, 2011 ( RANJIT SINGH ) ramesh JUDGE