Chandigarh, Jan. 17 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed a decision of the Moga Municipal Corporation rejecting a job application, observing that a candidate cannot be disqualified for possessing a qualification higher than the minimum prescribed. The HC was dealing with a plea from one Lakhvinder Singh, who had applied for the post of beldar in the corporation in pursuance to an advertisement. The said advertisement laid down the eligibility criteria which included clearing middle school level with Punjabi as one of the elective subjects. The court found that the petitioner had passed the Punjabi language examination with 52% marks in Class X and 74.6% in Class XII. ".there is no justification in the respondent-corporation rejecting the claim of the petitioner merely for want of Class VIII certificate," the bench of justice HS Brar observed. It also noted that the advertisement makes it clear that the intention is to ensure that those appointed to the post of beldar possess an effective understating of the Punjabi language which the petitioner does. The court quashed the August 8, 2025, decision of the MC commissioner, whereby claim of the petitioner was rejected and allowed the petition while directing the competent authority to consider the case of the petitioner afresh in the terms discussed by the HC within six weeks. The petitioner be granted the same deemed date of appointment as successful candidates, it further directed. The MC had argued that in its capacity of the employer it is best qualified to lay down the eligibility criteria for recruitment....