The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to a candidate seeking selection in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) through the 2024 recruitment cycle, permitting her to provisionally continue in the selection process despite a technical lapse in document submission.
The petitioner, an OBC-NCL candidate, had applied for the CAPF (Assistant Commandants) Examination 2024 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). As per the exam notification dated April 24, 2024, OBC-NCL candidates were required to submit certificates based on income for financial years 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24, issued between April 1, 2024 and May 14, 2024. Although the petitioner possessed a valid certificate dated April 30, 2024, she inadvertently uploaded an earlier certificate dated January 16, 2024 with her application.
The UPSC contended that since the uploaded certificate was outside the notified window, the petitioner could not claim the benefit of having held a valid certificate. The Court, however, disagreed with this approach, noting that the petitioner did possess a valid certificate within the required period and had also referenced it in her application.
A division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul remarked that it was “unhappy with such an approach” from a constitutional body like UPSC and observed that even in past cases where no certificate within the window period was held, interim relief had been granted.
In light of these facts, the Court held that denying participation based on the mere procedural lapse of uploading an earlier certificate would cause irreparable prejudice to the petitioner. Finding a strong prima facie case in her favour, the Court directed that the petitioner be provisionally permitted to continue in the selection process. If found successful and otherwise eligible, she may be appointed, subject to the final outcome of the writ petition.
The matter is now posted for further hearing on August 27, 2025.
Appearances:
Petitioner: Mr. Saurav Agrawal, Mr. Asav Rajan, Mr. Ajay Sharma, Mr. Mayank Biyani, Mr. Sanwar Chaudhary, Ms. Mehak Joshi and Mr. Saurajay Nanda, Advs
Respondent: Mr. Ravinder Agarwal, Mr. Manish Kumar Singh and Mr. Vasu Agarwal, Advs. for R-1/UPSC.
Mr. Syed Abdul Haseeb, CGSC for R-2/UOI.