New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday held that candidates must possess the required educational qualifications on the last date of application submission in recruitment processes of Rajasthan Public Service Commission.

A bench comprising justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta set aside a Rajasthan High Court order that had allowed final-year law students to participate in the recruitment process for Assistant Prosecution Officers (APOs).

Allowing the appeal of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), Justice Nath, who authored the judgement, said, "Even otherwise, acceptance of the respondents' contention, that candidates who acquire the qualification at any stage prior to the interview should be treated as eligible, would introduce uncertainty into the selection process and impose an unwarranted administrative burden upon the appellant-RPSC in tracking subsequent acquisitions of qualifications."

The bench was dealing with the issue "whether the relevant date for acquiring the minimum essential qualification is the date of submission of the application pursuant to the advertisement, or any time prior to the commencement of the interview process". The bench said it was also unable to concur with the reasoning of the high court that, where two interpretations of the guidelines are possible, the one favourable to the candidates ought to be adopted.

"Such an approach, based on considerations of enlarging the pool of candidates or promoting competition, cannot be invoked when the language of the advertisement admits of only one clear and unambiguous interpretation," it said, adding that the prescribed eligibility condition unequivocally requires possession of the degree at the relevant point of time.

The controversy began on March 7, 2024, when the RPSC advertised 181 posts for APOs.

The essential qualification required was a professional Law Degree (LL.B).

Several law students, who were still in their final year and had not yet received their degrees, applied for the posts.

In November 2024, the RPSC issued press notes clarifying that only those who possessed the degree by the last date of the application period were eligible.

The RPSC warned that ineligible candidates must withdraw their applications or face disqualification and potential action under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The candidates challenged this in the Rajasthan High Court, saying that they had acquired their degrees by August 22, 2024, well before the preliminary examination scheduled for January 2025.

Both a single judge and a division bench of the high court ruled in favour of the candidates, directing RPSC to let them sit for the exam.

The top court disagreed with the high court's interpretation.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.