Rajasthan High Court comes to aid of woman who fell short of Geologist job by 1 cm

The Rajasthan High Court recently came to the aid of a woman who was denied appointment as a Geologist on the ground that she did not meet the minimum height prescribed for the job by 1 centimeter (cm) [Monika Kanwar Rathore vs State Of Rajasthan and Others]..Justice Farjand Ali said that the duties assigned to a Geologist do not have any nexus with height and there is no possibility of shortness in height hampering the work to be assigned to her.The single-judge also observed that discrimination on account of height in such a case would be violative of fundamental rights and a constitutional court cannot allow it.“Doing discrimination on account of height of an aspirant in services, where height of the individual has no bearance and in no manner influence performance of the worker in the job is certainly violative of his/her fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India,” the Court said.Hence, it directed the State authorities to appoint the woman to the post..The order was passed in the case of one Monika Kanwar Rathore who had applied for the post advertised by Rajasthan Public Service Commission in 2016. A PhD holder, Rathore was successful in the examination and interview in 2018. However, she was not confirmed for appointment due to her height of 139 cm which was short of the prescribed height of 140 cm. In 2019, she approached the Court. .In the ruling passed on July 23, the Court noted that relevant service rules for Geologists do not prescribe the criteria of minimum height but Rathore was denied the job on the basis of instructions issued for various State services in 1975.“In the opinion of this court, the purpose of prescribing certain physical criteria for various posts is to ensure that the candidate appointed on a particular post is able to perform his duties in an efficient way and does not hamper the system. While adjudging suitability of a candidate, the nature of work and duties of a post have to be taken into account,” the Court observed..However, the Court also looked at the duties and work of a Geologist and found them to have no nexus with height.“This opinion of the court is further fortified from the fact that certain classes of candidates are given relaxation in height criteria and they are supposed to do the exact same work, viz. Gorkhas, Garwalis, Assames and Nagaland Tribals etc., whose average height is distinctly lower. Even a person with locomotor disability or cerebral palsy is not debarred from appointment on the post of Geologist, rather in the advertisement dated 10.02.2016, one post has been kept reserved for LD/CP category,” it added..Thus, the Court opined that any deviation from the instructions would not cause any disadvantage to the government or the public. It also observed that the 1975 instructions are not mandatory in nature as the State has the absolute discretion to accept or reject a candidate.It further said a Geologist's post cannot be compared with those in police or defence forces. “The post of Geologist does not fall under the category of a post with uniform like Police, Defence and Paramilitary Services, All the other candidates from the merit list have been afforded appointment and the petitioner has been deprived of the same on the basis of height, despite her being eligible and suitable in all aspects. Since the statutory rules framed regarding recruitment of the personnel in the Mines and Geology Service does not prescribe any minimum height for the candidates, thus, the act of the respondents in denying appointment to the petitioner is a discrimination based on physical attributes.”.Accordingly, the Court held that Rathore cannot be deprived of the appointment. Pertinently, a post had been ordered to be kept vacant for her in 2019."Now almost five years have passed and the interim order is in currency in favour of the petitioner. The petitioner has suffered a lot of hardship and is facing recurring financial loss,” the Court noted while ordering the authorities to appoint Rathore to the post within two months..Advocates KD Charan and DS Sodha provided legal assistance to the petitioner who appeared in-person.Advocates JK Mishra and Rajesh Poonia represented the respondents. [Read Judgment]