Can a job aspirant be disqualified for being overqualified: Telangana HC to decide
Telangana High Court is currently deliberating on a plea filed by a woman who was denied an interview for the position of office subordinate (attender) at a district court. The woman, who had applied for the job that required a minimum qualification of class 10, was not called for an interview because she had appeared for Intermediate and degree exams.
The plea, being heard by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar, highlights the issue of whether someone can be barred from applying for a job due to possessing qualifications higher than the advertised requirement.
The petitioner claims that the official responsible for calling candidates for the interview did not contact her.
Swaroop Oorilla, the standing counsel for the High Court and district courts, argued that the rule requiring candidates to have completed schooling up to class 7 and not beyond class 10 was in place because individuals with higher qualifications may find it difficult to perform the tasks assigned to an attender's post. He stated that officials may also encounter difficulties in delegating work to them.
Although the bench acknowledged the practical reasoning behind the rule, it expressed concerns about rejecting candidates solely based on this ground.
The petitioner's counsel, Koppula Sravan Kumar, argued that the rule was unfair in general, but in this particular case, the petitioner hadn't obtained qualifications beyond class 10. He explained that she had appeared for Intermediate and degree exams but had failed.
The bench questioned how she could have appeared for a degree without clearing Intermediate.
