india

Updated: Jul 11, 2019 23:52 IST

Overqualification is also a disqualification for a job, the Madras high court held on Thursday as it dismissed two separate petitions of engineering graduates against their rejection for the posts of metro train operator and revenue department assistant despite clearing written exams and interviews.

Lakshmi Prabha and M Sakkaraichamy had filed the petitions against the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) and Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) over the rejections. Prabha’s petition against her rejection in 2013 came up before justice S Vaidhyanathan at the court’s principal seat in Chennai. Justice S M Subramaniam of the court’s Madurai bench heard the plea of Sarkkaraichamy, who completed his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 1999 and cleared the TNPSC exam 10 years later for the assistant’s post.

The CMRL cited Prabha’s bachelor’s in engineering degree for her disqualification. “The employment notification clearly says that only candidates with a diploma in engineering disciplines are eligible for the train operator/station controller/junior engineer posts,” the CMRL contended in its response .

In the case of Sakkaraichamy, who had approached the court in 2013, the TNPSC argued that candidates with a BE or BTech degrees were overqualified and hence not suitable for the posts of assistants in the revenue department. Both the petitions came up for hearing on the same day though at Chennai and Madurai.

“If overqualified candidates were appointed for performing the duties and responsibilities attached to the Group-4 services and basic services, undoubtedly, the efficiency level in the public administration would be brought down...,” justice Subramanian said in his order.