Anushka Sharma-
Published On: November 21, 2021 at 16:30 IST
The Supreme Court has dismissed a candidate’s claim that an SMS notification of a physical fitness test and document verification is insufficient. The SMS notification was sent to the aspiring Constable’s mobile number, according to the Court.
“When a requirement is stated in the application to provide the mobile number, it is with a purpose to communicate and in the instant case, the Appellants have sent the SMS to the very number which had been furnished by the Respondent,” the Court stated.
Furthermore, the Court stated that a line must be drawn at some point otherwise, the competent authorities recruiting process would be useless without a deadline, and as a result the next recruitment process would be hampered since the number of openings for the next process would fluctuate.
This statement was made by a panel of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AS Bopanna while considering a Special Leave Petition challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court’s Division Bench (“impugned order”).
The High Court upheld a Single Judge’s ruling directing the State of Uttar Pradesh to allow the respondent to appear for the document verification and physical fitness test for the position of Constable advertised in 2015.
“Further, the argument as put forth by the learned counsel for the Respondent that one may not retain the same number after lapse of long time would hold good even for the address which is furnished for the issue of Postal communication. In a given case, the person may not reside in the same address which is furnished for communication as it existed when the application was made,” the Court further observed.
In a Judgement authored by Justice AS Bopanna, the bench stated that in such circumstances, it was the candidate’s responsibility to notify the authorities of any changes because such changes would be within the candidate’s knowledge and it was in his or her own best interests to do so.
Also Read: Chief Justice NV Ramana: TV Debates Creating More Pollution than anybody
