The Delhi High Court has dismissed a woman’s plea seeking 10 years of age relaxation for appointment as a Primary Teacher in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). The Court held that a notification issued for Delhi school recruitment could not automatically override the separate recruitment rules governing MCD appointments.
Background
In Poonam Patwal v. Government of NCT of Delhi & Others, the petitioner, a Guest Teacher with the Directorate of Education (DoE) since 2012, challenged the Central Administrative Tribunal’s order rejecting her claim for age relaxation and appointment.
She relied on a November 1, 1980 notification granting women candidates 10 years of age relaxation for teaching posts. However, MCD’s recruitment rules prescribed an upper age limit of 30 years for Primary Teachers.
Patwal secured 123.01 marks in the selection process for 4,366 vacancies under Advertisement No. 01/18 and argued that the notification remained effective when the recruitment advertisement was issued in June 2018.
A Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Bharat Parashar examined whether the notification applied to recruitment governed by MCD’s separate rules.
The Court observed,
“The mere existence of the said Notification, therefore, cannot by itself establish its applicability to a recruitment governed by the separate Recruitment Rules of the MCD.”
It further noted that the notification had not been shown to have been adopted by MCD or incorporated into the applicable recruitment rules.
Addressing her participation in the examination, the Bench clarified,
“Participation in a selection process pursuant to an interim order does not, by itself, create a substantive right to appointment.”
The Court also held that higher examination marks and existing vacancies could not replace the eligibility conditions prescribed for the post.
The Bench found no error in the Tribunal’s decision and rejected the petitioner’s arguments concerning equality and age relaxation. It held that the 1980 notification could not be extended to MCD recruitment without a supporting provision in the applicable rules or advertisement.
Accordingly, the Delhi High Court dismissed the writ petition along with the pending applications.
