Unmarried woman cannot be denied job fearing marriage, likely relocation: Gujarat HC

In a strongly worded order, Gujarat High Court set aside an order by the then Mamlatdar of Jhalod in Dahod district, condemning it as a "classic example of outright favouritism" in public employment. The court ruled that rejecting a higher-merit candidate—an unmarried woman—on the arbitrary ground that she might marry and shift to another village violates constitutional principles of equality.

The single bench of the high court quashed the April 21, 2018, appointment of Pritika Dindod to the post of Administrator-cum-Cook in Jhalod. The court observed that Hansa Sangda, with 68% marks, was unjustly overlooked in favour of Dindod, who ranked fourth.

The court noted there was no evidence or valid justification provided by the then Mamlatdar for bypassing Sangda. It described the reasoning—that an unmarried village girl might get married and relocate—as "arbitrary, fanciful, frivolous" and in direct violation of Articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (equality of opportunity in public employment) of the Constitution of India.

"This is a clear case of favouritism in public employment by officials of the state," the court remarked.

During the hearing, the advocate for the appointed candidate, Pritika Dindod, raised a separate contention: that Sangda's degree certificate from Dr B R Ambedkar University, Agra, was allegedly fake. The counsel pointed out a discrepancy in the university's name on the certificate—'Dr B R Ambedkar University, Agra'—versus the official name 'Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra'.

The court acknowledged this issue could not be ignored and directed the Mamlatdar, Jhalod, to verify the authenticity of Sangda's degree certificate directly from the university concerned.

If the degree is confirmed as genuine, petitioner—being first in the merit list—must be appointed to the post without delay.

If found fake, she cannot be offered the appointment on the basis of such a certificate.

The court instructed the state government and the Mamlatdar to complete the verification exercise and pass appropriate orders regarding the appointment within one month from the date of the order