The Supreme Court on 26th August, 2019 held that experience gained in a non-remunerative job cannot be counted for purposes of meeting eligibility criteria in direct recruitment to the post of Drug Inspector in the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta in the case of UPSC v Shristi Singh held that the Central Administrative Tribunal’s order and its subsequent approval by the Madhya Pradesh High Court were not necessary and UPSC was within its authority to reject Shrishti’s candidature.
UPSC had advertised for drug inspector’s post and required qualifying experience of 18 months. Shrishti produced two certificates, one of them mentioning her experience in testing Schedule ‘C’ drugs, but the same was issued a day after the online application form was submitted. Her experience certificate also declared that she was in a non-remunerative role. The irregularities with respect to her experience was valid ground, according to the apex court, for UPSC to doubt and hence disqualify her. Court held that it was incorrect for the Tribunal to say that UPSC didn’t take a firm stand on its reason to disqualify her.
–India Legal Bureau