As per case facts two candidates Mohit and Kiran applied for government posts under the OBC reservation category but submitted their caste certificates in the format prescribed for the Central ... Government not the format explicitly required by the State's recruitment notification Consequently the recruitment board did not consider them for OBC reservation and instead placed them in the general category where their marks were below the cut-off leading to their non-selection The High Court gave conflicting decisions in their separate petitions leading to cross-appeals The question arose whether the recruiting authority was bound to accept the caste certificates not provided in the exact format prescribed by the recruitment notification Finally the Court ruled against the candidates holding that the recruiting authority was not bound to accept the non-conforming certificates as the terms of the unambiguous advertisement are mandatory and must be strictly adhered to by all aspirants to ensure equal treatment and compliance with the state's reservation criteria