Date Of Passing Final Exam Relevant For Batch-Wise Recruitment, Not When Certificate Was Issued: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court held that for batch-wise recruitment, the year and month of passing the final examination must decide the candidate's batch and not the date on which the certificate was issued.

Rejecting the State's contention, Justice Sandeep Sharma observed that “…it is nowhere mentioned in the R&P Rules that date of issuance of certificate given in the certificate would be relevant, rather… relevant date would be the year and month of passing.”

The petitioner completed her Diploma in Ayurvedic Pharmacy in 2005 from the University of Institute of Advanced Studies, Rajasthan. She appeared in her final examination in, but her certificate was issued later in April 2006.

After getting the diploma, she got herself registered with the Employment Exchange to be considered for batch-wise recruitment for the post of Ayurvedic Pharmacy Officer.

However, while the Screening committee prepared the checklist, they considered the date of issuance of the certificate as the year of passing and due to which the petitioner was not considered for recruitment under the 2005 batch.

Aggrieved, she approached the High Court seeking direction to be appointed under the 2005 batch.

In response, the State contended that according to the recruitment & promotion rules for Ayurvedic Pharmacy Officers, the date on the marks certificate determines the batch of a candidate. Since her certificate showed April 2006, they treated her as a 2006 batch candidate.

The Court observed that it was the error of the screening committee which cost the petitioner her appointment. It noted that the Employment Exchange initially treated her as a 2005 batch candidate, but the Screening Committee made a clerical mistake by recording 2006 as her passing year.

Case Name: Smt. Asha Rani V/s State of H.P. & Others.

Case No.: CWP No. 16189 of 2024

Date of Decision: 17.09.2025

For the Petitioner: Mr. Uday Singh Banyal, Advocate.

For the Respondents: Mr. Rajan Kahol, Mr. Vishal Panwar and Mr. B.C.Verma, Additional Advocate Generals, with Mr. Ravi Chauhan, Deputy Advocate General, for the respondents- State. Mr. Vivek Chandel, Advocate, for respondent No.4.

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