Srinagar, Oct 16: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has upheld the cancellation of a woman’s provisional selection as an aaya/helper at a government primary school in Baramulla after her educational records showed she was underage, despite a medical certificate assessing her age at 23.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal dismissed her petition, ruling that official school records establishing a candidate’s date of birth cannot be overridden by a medical opinion for determining age eligibility.
The recruitment notification, issued on January 18, 2023, under the CHIRAG-2023 initiative, required candidates to be at least 18 years old as of January 1, 2023.
The petitioner had mentioned May 15, 2003, as her date of birth in her application. However, her Class 8 certificate and provisional-cum-discharge certificate recorded it as March 4, 2005.
Based on these records, the authorities determined that she was 17 years, nine months and 28 days old on the cut-off date, making her ineligible for the post.
Although she initially figured in the tentative selection list, an objection over her age prompted a review of her candidature. On February 17, 2023, the authorities cancelled her provisional selection and selected another candidate.
Challenging the decision, the petitioner relied on a medical board certificate assessing her age at 23. She also argued that her annual income of Rs 50,400 was lower than the Rs 74,000 income of the selected candidate, entitling her to priority under the recruitment guidelines.
The High Court observed that her claimed date of birth was not corroborated by any educational or requisite qualification certificate.
Finding no legal or factual error in the authorities’ decision, the court dismissed the petition and upheld the cancellation of her provisional selection.
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