Certificates Issued By Indian Body Builder Federation Are Valid: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court has held that the Certificates issued by Indian Body Builder Federation are valid as it is recognized by the Ministry of Sports itself.
The Court was considering an Appeal against an order of the single judge bench denying appointment to the Appellant on the post of Sub-Inspector/ Platoon Commander with all consequential benefits.
The division bench of Justice Kuldeep Mathur and Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu observed, “…..the Selection Board has exercised due caution and had sought the information from the Government of India and only upon receiving the authentic information, they have acted upon and have recognized the certificate issued by the Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF), specially in light of the fact that there is no other body recognized at the national level or affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association, and if that is taken to be so, then there would be no national level body which is recognized and whose certificate could be held to be valid. In view of the same, the Selection Committee has not committed any error while considering the certificate of the respondent No.3 issued by the IBBF. “
The Appellant was represented by Advocate Kamal Kishore Dave while the Respondent was represented by Additional Advocate General B.L. Bhati.
Facts of the Case
The facts of the case are that the Director General of Police, Rajasthan, Jaipur issued an advertisement under Rule 17(2)(a) of the Rajasthan Police Subordinate Service Rules, 1989 for direct recruitment to the post of Sub-Inspector/Platoon Commander under the sports quota. Out of the total posts advertised, one post was for the sport Body Building.
The Appellant, being eligible, applied for one post for the sport Body Building under the EWS category. The Respondent No.3 also applied for the same, however, in the provisional assessment of the application forms, his form was rejected with the remark “invalid certificate”. Later, the Respondent No.3, in pursuance to the amended advertisement, submitted a fresh application along with a fresh sport certificate and his candidature was considered. Since, he was given the higher marks for his sport certificate, he stood higher in merit than the Appellant and was selected for the post of Sub-Inspector/Platoon Commander. Since the Respondent No.3 was selected, the Appellant could not find place in the select list and therefore, being aggrieved against the selection of the Respondent No.3, he preferred the Writ Petition.
Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the Certificate filed by the Respondent No.3 was issued by the Indian Body Builders Federation and the same being not a body recognized by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and not enumerated under condition No.9 of the advertisement dated December 28, 2019, could not have been taken into consideration. He thus averred that since the sports certificate of the Respondent No.3 itself could not have been considered, therefore, the grant of weightage of marks upon the same is not justified and his selection deserves to be cancelled.
On the other hand, Counsel for the Respondent submitted that the IBBF is a duly recognised federation by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government Of India and hence, the Certificate issued by such a recognized federation/association/body deserves to be considered for grant of weightage of marks.
Reasoning By Court
The Court at the outset observed that there was no illegality in accepting the second application form of the Respondent No.3 by the Respondent Authorities even if his first Application was rejected before the conclusion of the selection process on the ground of “certificate not as per norms” as any person, who was eligible as per the cut off dates of the amended advertisement could have applied and so did the Respondent No.3.
With respect to the validity of the sport certificate, the Court observed, “From a bare perusal of the letters dated 26.10.2021, 01.02.2019 and 02.06.2020, it is clear that the Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF) is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and it finds place along with the other federations and association of the national level, which are also recognized by the Government of India. From a bare perusal of these letters, it can safely be concluded that the Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF) is a national level federation duly recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and hence, the certificates issued by it are certainly recognizable and deserve to be considered for the purpose of recruitment and weightage of marks.”
The Court concluded that the Selection Board has exercised due caution and had sought the information from the Government of India and only upon receiving the authentic information, they have acted upon and have recognized the certificate issued by the Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF), specially in light of the fact that there is no other body recognized at the national level or affiliated with the Indian Olympic Association, and if that is taken to be so, then there would be no national level body which is recognized and whose certificate could be held to be valid.
“……., the Selection Committee has not committed any error while considering the certificate of the respondent No.3 issued by the IBBF. There is no dispute about the marks that had been awarded for the sports certificate held by the respondent No.3 and the appellant-petitioner. The respondent No.3 was entitled for higher marks as per Clause No.3 of Condition No.10(A) of the advertisement dated 28.12.2019 and he has rightly been awarded so and, as the respondent No.3 was higher in merit, he has rightly been selected and offered appointment and we find no illegality therein”, the Court ruled.
The Special Appeal was accordingly dismissed.
Cause Title: Garvit Vyas vs. State of Rajasthan (2025: RJ-JD: 34054-DB)
Appearances:
Appellant– Advocate Kamal Kishore Dave
Respondent– Additional Advocate General BL BHATI, Senior Advocate Manoj Bhandari, Advocate NES Gupta