In a significant ruling, the Uttarakhand High Court has held that candidates holding a three-year diploma in agricultural engineering are eligible for the post of sugarcane supervisor. The court set aside the decision of the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC) that had disqualified such candidates and directed the Commission to declare their results without further delay.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Narendra and Justice Subhash Upadhyay passed the order while hearing a special appeal, overturning the single-judge bench’s September 1 decision that had upheld the Commission’s stand.
The controversy stems from a 2022 advertisement issued by the UKPSC to fill 78 sugarcane supervisor posts. The recruitment process was initially withdrawn and later resumed in 2023 with a fresh advertisement. This time, the eligibility criterion was fixed as a two-year diploma in agriculture.
Several candidates with a three-year diploma in agricultural engineering appeared for the examination and were initially included in the selection list. However, they were later disqualified at the document verification stage on the ground that their qualification did not match the advertised requirement.
When the issue arose, the Commission sought clarification from the government regarding the validity of a three-year agricultural engineering diploma for the post. On November 25, 2023, the Office of the Sugarcane and Sugar Commissioner clarified that both two-year and three-year agricultural diplomas were acceptable.
Following this, on December 14, 2023, the Secretary of the Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industry Department directed the Commission to treat three-year diploma holders as eligible and proceed with the selection process accordingly. Despite this clear directive, the Commission neither amended the advertisement nor included these candidates, leading to their exclusion.
The High Court strongly criticized the Commission’s stance, calling its actions “arbitrary and unlawful.” It observed that the recruiting agency had no authority to unilaterally alter or ignore the educational qualifications prescribed by the employing department.
Allowing the appeal, the division bench set aside the single-judge order and directed the UKPSC to immediately declare the results of the appellants who hold a three-year agricultural engineering diploma.
