Bombay High Court Grants Relief to Candidates Disqualified Over Minor Height Deficiency in CAPF Recruitment
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has come to the aid of two 21-year-olds who were disqualified from recruitment in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) after they fell short of the prescribed height limit by a fraction of a centimetre. The court directed the authorities to extend the benefit of relaxation available under the 2015 Revised Uniform Guidelines, noting that the disqualification was “illegal and arbitrary.”
Details of the Candidates and Recruitment Process
A division bench comprising Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Ashwin Bhobe heard petitions filed by Sushant Sarode from Malegaon and Sahil Patil from Kolhapur. Both candidates were barred from proceeding to the Detailed Medical Examination (DME) stage despite clearing earlier phases.
Sarode and Patil had applied for the posts of Constable (General Duty) in CAPF and SSF, Rifleman (GD) in Assam Rifles, and Sepoy in the Narcotics Control Bureau Examination, 2025. The recruitment process consists of three stages: a computer-based test, a physical standard and efficiency test, and finally a medical examination.
Both candidates successfully cleared the written test and the physical efficiency test. However, they were declared ineligible during the physical standard test conducted in Pune. Their heights were measured at 164.7 cm and 164.6 cm, respectively, just short of the required minimum of 165 cm. Consequently, rejection slips were issued on August 23 and August 25.
Legal Arguments and High Court Decision
Challenging their disqualification, their advocate V.A. Shastry cited clause 2(d) of the Uniform Guidelines for Medical Examination in CAPFs and Assam Rifles dated May 20, 2015. This clause specifies that “fractions of a centimetre less than 0.5 cm will be ignored and 0.5 cm or more will be rounded off to the next higher cm.”
Shastry argued that, based on this rule, both petitioners should have been considered as meeting the 165 cm height criterion.
The central government’s counsel, P.B. Chavan, opposed the plea, contending that the rounding-off rule applies only at the medical examination stage and not during the physical standard test. She urged the court to uphold the disqualification.
However, the bench disagreed with the government’s stance. It observed that the petitioners had applied under the ‘Maratha’ category, which itself prescribes a minimum height of 165 cm. Furthermore, the guidelines extend relaxation benefits to Marathas as well as certain other communities and regions.
Court Verdict
“Disqualifying the petitioners at the stage of physical standard test on account of their height being 164.7 cm and 164.6 cm, respectively, is illegal and arbitrary,” the judges held. “We are of the considered opinion that the petitioners are entitled to the benefit of height relaxation.”
Allowing both petitions, the High Court directed that Sarode and Patil be declared eligible to proceed to the detailed medical examination stage.
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