Counting examination chances by permission to appear upheld where attempt limits governed promotion eligibility

Under the Amended Departmental Examination Rules for Income Tax Officers, 2009, chances are counted on the basis of permission to appear, even if the candidate does not actually sit for the examination. The Jharkhand High Court treated the rule language as unambiguous and refused to read it contrary to its plain terms. It also rejected the challenge under Articles 14 and 16, finding the departmental rejection and the Tribunal's view consistent with the governing examination framework. The petitioner therefore could not disregard chances already counted under the rules, and the denial of promotion on exhaustion of attempt limits was upheld.

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Issues: Whether, under the Amended Departmental Examination Rules for Income Tax Officers, 2009, the chances availed by a candidate are to be counted on the basis of permission to appear in the examination, irrespective of actual appearance, and whether the rejection of the petitioner's claim for promotion on the ground of exhaustion of chances was unlawful.

Analysis: The applicable rules made it clear that, for computing the maximum number of chances, the chances for which a candidate was permitted to appear were to be taken into account whether or not the candidate actually took the examination. The Court held that the rule position was unambiguous and could not be read contrary to its plain terms. The challenge based on Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India was rejected because the impugned action was consistent with the governing examination rules. The Court also held that the decision of the Tribunal and the departmental rejection did not suffer from legal infirmity warranting interference.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to ignore the chances already counted under the rules, and the denial of promotion on the basis of the attempt limit was upheld.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed because the departmental authorities acted within the examination framework, and the impugned order of the Tribunal required no interference.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the governing examination rule provides that chances for which a candidate is permitted to appear shall be counted irrespective of actual appearance, the count of attempts must follow that rule and a challenge to rejection based on exhaustion of chances will fail if the rejection conforms to the rule.

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