Candidate Who Applied for EWS Certificate Before Cut-Off Cannot Be Penalised for Administrative Delay; Differential Treatment Vis-à-Vis Other Reserved Categories Violates Article 14: Punjab & Haryana High Court
Case Name: Khushpreet Kaur and Others v. Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. and Another
Date of Judgment: 01 July 2026
Citation: CWP-4529 of 2021
Bench: Justice Harpreet Singh Brar
Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that where candidates had applied for issuance of EWS Income & Asset Certificates before the prescribed cut-off date but the certificates were issued later due to administrative delay attributable to the competent authority, they cannot be deprived of the benefit of EWS reservation. The Court further held that PSPCL’s decision to relax the cut-off requirement for candidates belonging to other reserved categories while denying identical relaxation exclusively to EWS candidates amounted to an unreasonable classification violating Article 14 of the Constitution. The judgment was, however, confined to the peculiar facts of the case and was expressly directed not to be treated as a precedent.
Summary: The petitioners challenged the refusal of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) to consider their candidature under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category for various posts on the ground that their Income & Asset Certificates had been issued after the last date prescribed for submission of online applications.
The advertisements required EWS certificates to be issued on or before 09.11.2019. Although the petitioners had admittedly applied for issuance of the certificates before the cut-off date, the competent revenue authorities issued them only thereafter. The petitioners contended that they had fulfilled every requirement within their control and should not suffer because of administrative delay in issuance of the certificates.
PSPCL relied upon the terms of the advertisements and the decisions of the Supreme Court in Divya v. Union of India and Mohit Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh, contending that possession of a valid EWS certificate on the cut-off date was an essential eligibility condition.
While acknowledging the settled legal position that an EWS certificate ordinarily must exist on the cut-off date, the High Court distinguished the present case on its peculiar facts. The Court noted that the Punjab Government had introduced the EWS reservation framework only a few months before the recruitment, the petitioners had applied for the certificates well before the last date, and the subsequent delay occurred solely because of the functioning of the issuing authorities.
The Court also found significant that PSPCL itself had, through a decision of its Board of Directors dated 07.05.2022, relaxed the requirement regarding delayed issuance of reservation certificates for Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, Ex-servicemen, Sportspersons and Freedom Fighters, while consciously withholding the same benefit only from EWS candidates pending litigation. The Court held that once such relaxation had been extended to all other reserved categories, exclusion of EWS candidates alone lacked any rational basis and resulted in hostile discrimination contrary to Article 14.
Balancing the settled legal principles with the exceptional factual circumstances, the Court concluded that the petitioners had exercised due diligence and could not be penalised for administrative delay entirely beyond their control.
Decision: The writ petitions were allowed. PSPCL was directed to accept the EWS Income & Asset Certificates produced by the petitioners, consider their candidature under the EWS category according to merit, and issue appointment letters, if otherwise eligible. The petitioners were held entitled to notional consequential benefits but not arrears of salary. The Court expressly clarified that the relief was granted only in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and shall not operate as a precedent.