BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Saturday held that a candidate should obtain a certificate of reservation, prior to the last date of submitting an application for a job, as prescribed in the recruitment notification, and it should also be produced when sought.
A division bench of Justices SG Pandit and Anant Ramanath Hegde passed the order while allowing a petition filed by the Selection Authority and Secretary of the Karnataka High School Examination Board, Department of Public Instructions.
“The creamy layer certificate or income certificate would depend on the income of a person from his vocation or profession or employment as on the date of issuing such certificate. Income of a person whether he is a government servant, businessman, professional or coolie would definitely vary from time to time,” the court observed.
The petition was filed questioning the correctness and legality of the order dated March 9, 2020, passed by the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, Belagavi Bench, which directed the Board to consider the case of Geetha Dattatreya Gokarn for appointment to the post of Secondary School Assistant Teacher under GM/Rural quota.
She moved the Tribunal as the Board on July 1, 2014 rejected her candidature as she failed to submit the creamy layer certificate obtained within the period prescribed under the recruitment notification dated April 2, 2012. The court noted that the order passed by the Tribunal is erroneous as it failed to notice the general conditions or instructions contained in the notification inviting applications.
The court observed that the creamy layer certificate submitted by the applicant had expired as per the time prescribed under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Reservation of Appointments, Etc.) Rules, 1992. The appointing authority could not have given any credence to the certificate.
“The certificate dated October 31, 2013, produced along with the representation, is a certificate obtained subsequent to preparation of the additional select list, that is, more than one-and-a-half years after the last date for submission of application and the same cannot be taken note for selection,” the court added.