High Court Permits Manual Filing After Age-Relaxation Claim in Constable Recruitment; Petition Disposed With Liberty

A single-judge bench of Justice Jagmohan Bansal heard a petition under Article 226 challenging the rejection of an online application for the post of Constable on the ground of over-age and sought directions to grant age-relaxation or otherwise allow the petitioner to apply. The petitioner, Yogesh Kumar, had applied under Advertisement No.1 of 2026 but alleged that he was eligible under an earlier Advertisement No.14 of 2024—which provided three years age relaxation but was withdrawn on 02.07.2025 with a promise that candidates eligible under the withdrawn advertisement would be considered for re-advertised posts.

The High Court allowed a practical remedy so the petitioner could participate in the selection process and disposed of the petition without further adjudication on merits. The Court noted that the respondent had not complied with an earlier direction to pass and communicate a reasoned order. The Court, in its reasoning, observed: "In the backdrop, the petition, at this stage, deserves to be disposed of without further order, however, with liberty to parties to avail remedy in accordance with law if cause survives or fresh cause of action arises." The order recorded that the petitioner "pursuant to order of this Court has been permitted to file application form manually. Now, he would be able to participate in the selection process."

Background The petitioner challenged the online portal's rejection of his application for Advertisement No.1 of 2026 (last date 31.01.2026) contending he was entitled to age-relaxation under the previously issued Advertisement No.14 of 2024, which was withdrawn on 02.07.2025. Advertisement No.14 had provided three years' age relaxation; the current advertisement did not. Earlier litigation (CWP No.1944 of 2026) resulted in an order dated 23.01.2026 directing the respondent to pass a reasoned order on the petitioner's claim and communicate it by 27.01.2026. The State conceded that no such reasoned order had been passed or communicated pursuant to that direction. Following subsequent proceedings, on 31.01.2026 the Court permitted the petitioner to file his application manually, enabling him to participate in the recruitment process. Given these developments, the Court disposed of the writ petition on 16.02.2026 while expressly leaving the parties "liberty to avail remedy in accordance with law if cause survives or fresh cause of action arises." No substantive determination was made on the entitlement to age relaxation; the order provided procedural relief allowing participation in the selection process.

Case No.: CWP-2642-2026 Case Title: Yogesh Kumar v. State of Haryana and others Appearances: For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Abhijeet Singh Rawaley, Advocate For the Respondent(s): Mr. Ravi Partap Singh, Deputy Advocate General, Haryana