In Brief
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) appealed a High Court Division Bench decision that quashed its rejection of a candidate for the post of Assistant Grade-II (Hindi). The candidate had ranked 6th in the merit list but was rejected for not producing a one-year experience certificate in translation at the time of application or document verification. The Supreme Court dismissed the FCI's appeal, holding that the advertisement required the qualification (one year's experience) but did not mandate proof be submitted with the application. The Court distinguished between the fact of possessing a qualification and the mode of proving it, ruling that procedure cannot override substance, and a meritorious candidate cannot be rejected on technical grounds when the underlying qualification is credibly established.
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