Sarikha vs DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION on 15 October 2026

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL CHANDIGARH BENCH Order Sheet Item no.: 42 O.A./1189/2026 (CHANDIGARH) [ RECRUITMENT ] Court No.: 2 No of Adjournment: 4 Order Dated: 15/10/2026 SARIKHA Vs DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

For Applicant(s) Advocate : SH. ADITYA YADAV WITH SH. VIRANSH

For Respondent(s) Advocate : SH. SAHIL BATRA FOR R 1 TO 3 AND 5 TO 8, SH. P.M. KANSAL FOR R NO.4 Order of The Tribunal Heard learned counsel for both the sides qua interim relief inter alia grant of ad-interim order directing the respondents to allow the applicant for interview as well as remaining stages of selection process to the post of PGT, Chemistry or alternatively keep one post vacant. Learned counsel for the respondents vehemently opposed the prayer made by the applicant. By way of instant O.A, the applicant has challenged the impugned order dated 18.09.2026 (Annexure A-9), whereby, the candidature of the applicant has been rejected being declared ineligible on the ground recorded as ‘OBC Certificate not produced as required’. Applicant has also prayed for issuance of direction to respondents to reconsider her claim under the OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) category after taking into consideration the OBC/NCL certificate(s) dated 23.08.2018, 08.02.2023, 10.02.2026 and 02.04.2026 (Annexure A-6 colly) and other documents including affidavit of the applicant attested by Executive Magistrate dated 15.09.2026 (Annexure A-7) and income certificate issued by Government of Haryana dated 21.05.2025 (Annexure A-8).

Learned counsel for the applicant has placed reliance on the decision of the co-ordinate Bench of this Tribunal dated 01.10.2026, wherein as ad-interim measure, it is directed as under: "5. The applicant, in support of his case, also relied upon the decision of Hon'ble High Court of Kerala in Union of India & Ors. vs. Abdul Rasheed reported as 2016 (3) KLT 111. He further relied upon the decision dated 10.12.2025 passed by Hon'ble High Court of Delhi in W.P. (C) No. 8304/2025 titled Raghvendra Singh & Anr. vs. UPSC & Anr. decided on 10.12.2025, which has been upheld by the Hon'ble Apex Court in SLP (C) Diary No. 17754/2026 vide order/judgement dated 04.06.2026, wherein it has been laid down that "candidature of a candidate cannot be rejected on account of non-submission of OBC-NCL Certificate within the cut-off period as the said action of respondents is against the provisions provided in Constitution with regard to reservation in public employment and such insistence of submission of certificates only during the cut-off date cannot be allowed to override the rights owed under Article 16 of the Constitution of India and also in derogation of the directions as issued by DOPT in its OM dated 08.10.2015 (A-12)." Thus, the action of the respondents in declaring the applicant as ineligible vide impugned order (A-1) for appearing in the interview or further stages of recruitment process is nonest and untenable.

6. In the present case, it is submitted that only 20 days was granted to the applicant to produce the OBC-NCL certificate.

7. In view of the settled law, as an interim measure, the respondents are directed to keep one post of Vice Principal under OBC-NCL category in KVS, vacant, till the next date of hearing." I have considered arguments advanced by learned counsel for both the sides. The schedule interview of documents verification qua Recruitment Notification No. 01/2025 is going on till 26.10.2026 meaning thereby, final result has not been issued by the respondents. In order to maintain consistency, the applicant is also entitled to the same relief as has been granted by the co-ordinate Bench of this Tribunal vide order dated 01.10.2026. Accordingly, the as an interim measure one post of PGT, Chemistry under OBC-NCL quota shall be kept vacant by the respondents till the next date of hearing.

The applicant may file rejoinder to the reply filed by the respondents within three weeks. List the matter on 13.11.2026.

Suresh Kumar Batra Member (J) Kamla Rawat ( court master )