The Bombay High Court has set aside the disqualification of two candidates for constable posts in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), holding that the rounding-off rule for height measurements must be applied at the Physical Standard Test (PST) stage itself.
The petitions were filed by two candidates who were disqualified at PST after their heights were recorded as 164.7 cm and 164.6 cm, marginally below the prescribed 165 cm. They relied on Clause 2(d) of the Uniform Guidelines for Medical Examination in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles for GOs & NGOs, 2015, which provides that fractions below 0.5 cm are to be ignored and 0.5 cm or above rounded up to the next higher cm. On this basis, they contended they should have been treated as meeting the minimum requirement.
Respondents opposed the plea, arguing that the rounding-off provision applied only at the Detailed Medical Examination (DME) stage and not at PST.
The Division Bench of Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe held that clause 2(d) the 2015 Guidelines is applicable at the PST stage only. The Court ruled that disqualification of candidates at PST stage was illegal and arbitrary, since both candidates should have been considered as 165 cm tall under the guidelines.
Allowing the writ petitions, the Court directed that both petitioners be treated as eligible for the DME and their candidatures processed accordingly.
Appearances
Petitioners– Mr. V.A. Shastry, Advocate
Respondents- Ms. P.B. Chavan with Mr. Rui Rodrigues, Advocates