Submission of Experience Certificate After Recruitment Application Deadline Valid Where Selection Committee Permits All Candidates to Rectify Deficiencies; Appointment Cannot Be Challenged Merely on Initial Provisional Eligibility: Punjab & Haryana High Court
Case Name: Rajesh Kumar v. Central University of Punjab, Bathinda and Another
Date of Judgment: 06.10.2026
Citation: CWP No. 30099 of 2018
Bench: Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Sudeepti Sharma
Held: The Punjab and Haryana High Court held that submission of an experience certificate after the original recruitment application deadline does not invalidate a candidate’s selection where the Selection Committee has expressly permitted all candidates to submit representations and supporting documents within a specified additional period. A candidate initially declared provisionally eligible can validly be considered for appointment upon furnishing the requisite documents within the extended period. The Court further held that selection based on academic qualifications, experience and expert evaluation cannot be interfered with in the absence of any established illegality or mala fides.
Summary: The dispute arose from the recruitment process conducted by the Central University of Punjab for the post of Executive Engineer pursuant to an advertisement dated 04.02.2018. The petitioner challenged the appointment of Saurabh Gupta, contending that he had initially been declared only provisionally eligible, subject to submission of an experience certificate, and could not subsequently be considered after the original application deadline.
The High Court observed that the Screening Committee had expressly invited representations and supporting documents from candidates declared ineligible or provisionally eligible until 29.05.2018. The selected candidate submitted his experience certificate through email on 28.05.2018, within the permitted period, following which he was found eligible and interviewed.
Distinguishing Bedanga Talukdar v. Saifudaullah Khan and Reena Dubey v. State of Madhya Pradesh, the Court observed that the recruitment process had not been relaxed exclusively for the selected candidate. All candidates were afforded an equal opportunity to rectify deficiencies. The Selection Committee thereafter evaluated the candidates on their academic records, experience and expert assessment. The selected candidate also possessed higher academic qualifications than the petitioner, and no mala fides or procedural irregularity were established.
Decision: The High Court dismissed the writ petition challenging Saurabh Gupta’s appointment as Executive Engineer at the Central University of Punjab. The Court upheld the selection, holding that the experience certificate had been submitted within the additional period expressly permitted by the Screening Committee and that the recruitment process did not suffer from any established illegality or mala fides.