Delhi Police Constable Recruitment Through SSC: Medical and Character Disputes

SSC runs the exam, Delhi Police runs the rest

In the Delhi Police constable recruitment, the Staff Selection Commission conducts the computer based examination and declares results, while Delhi Police itself conducts the Physical Endurance and Measurement Test, the medical examination and the character and antecedent verification. The offer of appointment comes from Delhi Police. Candidates often write to SSC about a medical rejection and wait months for a reply that never comes, because SSC has no say in that decision.

So identify who took the decision you want to challenge. A wrong answer key, a normalised score, or a category or document rejection at the SSC stage is an SSC matter, and SSC is the main respondent. Being declared unfit by the medical board or unsuitable after police verification is a Delhi Police decision, and the Commissioner of Police and the recruitment cell are the main respondents, with SSC joined where the result itself needs correction. Our Delhi Police service page lists the authorities usually named in such cases.

Recent cycles have separate posts for male and female candidates, with reservations for ex-servicemen and certain other categories, and the notice for your year fixes the age limits, physical standards, cut-off dates and documents. Keep your own copy of that notice. Almost every argument in a recruitment case starts with what the notice said and whether it was followed.

Which stage went wrong, and who decides it

Where a Delhi Police constable recruitment dispute is heard

A Delhi Police constable recruitment dispute goes to the Central Administrative Tribunal, and since the posts are in Delhi, to the Principal Bench at Copernicus Marg, New Delhi. Section 14 of the Administrative Tribunals Act gives the tribunal power over recruitment to civil posts under the Union, and Delhi Police posts fall in that class. A candidate from Rajasthan or Bihar files at the Principal Bench too, because the posts and the deciding authority are in Delhi.

Do not confuse this with the SSC GD Constable examination, which recruits for the CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, Assam Rifles and some other forces. Disputes in those recruitments generally go to the High Court, mostly the Delhi High Court, because the armed forces of the Union are outside the tribunal. Candidates who have appeared in both exams sometimes file in the wrong place. The page on CAPF, PSU and bank service writs explains that other route.

Once the tribunal decides, either side can challenge the order by a writ before a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court. Delhi Police does this fairly often in recruitment cases, especially where the tribunal has ordered appointment, so a favourable order is not always the end. The firm's page on Delhi Police service matters covers how serving personnel and candidates both reach the Principal Bench.

Declared medically unfit by the Delhi Police board

The medical examination for constable posts is strict, and the standards are written into the notice. Knock knee, flat foot, varicose veins, squint, colour blindness, defective distant vision, hydrocele and some skin conditions are the reasons that come up most. Tattoos are permitted only within narrow limits as to place and size, and some candidates are surprised to be rejected for one they thought was allowed.

When the board declares you unfit, you will normally be given a memo or slip stating the ground. The notice for your recruitment year tells you whether a re-medical examination or a review medical board is available and within what time it must be requested. In recent cycles this window has been short, and candidates have been turned away for applying even a few days late. Read the memo the same day and act on it.

For the review, bring a report from a government hospital specialist in the relevant field: an orthopaedic surgeon for knock knee or flat foot, an ophthalmologist for vision or colour perception, a surgeon for varicose veins. The report should describe the measurement or test used, not just say 'fit'. Boards give little weight to a one-line private certificate.

If the review board also finds you unfit, the tribunal will not substitute its own medical view. What it does examine is whether the procedure in the notice was followed, whether the ground stated is one the standards actually recognise, and whether a strong contrary medical opinion justifies a fresh examination by an independent board. The detailed steps are on our page on appealing an unfit finding in a pre-appointment medical.

What to do in the first few days after a Delhi Police medical unfit finding

1. Get the ground in writing

   Ask for the memo or slip that records why you were found unfit, with the date. If the board only says 'unfit' orally, write a short letter the same day asking for the ground and keep a receipt.

2. Check the review window in the notice

   Find the paragraph on re-medical or review examination in the notice and any instruction printed on the memo. Note the last date and the fee or form, if any, in your diary.

3. See a government specialist

   Go to a government or government-recognised hospital and ask for an examination on the exact ground. A specialist's report that names the test used, for example the intermalleolar distance for knock knee, is the most useful document you can carry.

4. Apply for the review on time

   Submit the request in the prescribed manner with the specialist's report. If online, save the confirmation; if by hand, get a stamped receipt.

5. Appear before the review board

   Carry originals and copies, arrive early, and if the board asks you to perform a movement or test, do it as instructed. Ask for the outcome in writing.

6. Decide on the tribunal promptly

   If the review board also rejects you, take advice within a few weeks. Section 21 allows a year, but recruitment cases weaken quickly once the batch has joined and vacancies are filled from the reserve list.

Character verification and the attestation form

After selection, every candidate fills an attestation form that asks whether he or she has ever been arrested, prosecuted, kept under detention, bound down, fined or convicted, and whether any case is pending. Delhi Police then sends the form for verification through the police of your home district. The report that comes back is matched against what you declared.

Delhi Police deals with candidates who disclose or are found to have criminal cases through a Screening Committee. Its approach has been laid down in a Delhi Police standing order on candidates involved in criminal cases, which was considered by the Supreme Court in Commissioner of Police v. Mehar Singh (2013). The Committee looks at the nature of the offence, the stage of the case, whether the acquittal was clean or on benefit of doubt or compromise, and the candidate's age and conduct.

Two separate questions arise and they should not be mixed up. One is suppression: did you hide a case you were asked about? The other is suitability: even if you disclosed it, is the case such that a police force can reasonably refuse to appoint you? A candidate who disclosed a minor case honestly stands on far better footing than one who hid it, even if both cases ended in acquittal.

Advocate B.K. Singh's first tip for candidates here is to fill the attestation form only after getting the actual court record. Many young candidates write 'no case' because the family said the matter was 'settled at the panchayat', when in fact an FIR exists and is pending or was closed on a compromise. Get the FIR number and the status from the court or police station first, and then disclose it accurately.

What the courts have said about criminal cases and police recruitment

Pending cases, compromises and cases filed after the form

A case that is pending trial when your verification comes back is the hardest situation. Delhi Police may keep the appointment pending, or decide that you are unsuitable for now. The tribunal generally will not order your appointment while a serious criminal case is still pending, but it may direct the department to reconsider once the case ends, and it can check whether the Committee's reasons make sense for the offence alleged. A cross FIR in a family land dispute is not the same as a robbery case, and the Committee is expected to see the difference.

A compromise is treated differently from an acquittal on merits. In compoundable offences, a compromise usually leads to acquittal, but Delhi Police may still treat it as something less than a clean acquittal. The tribunal will ask whether the offence was minor, how old you were, and whether anything else in your record suggests a risk. The separate guide on acquitted or discharged candidates refused appointment goes into the different kinds of acquittal.

If an FIR is registered after you filled the attestation form, tell the recruitment cell in writing as soon as you know, with a copy of the FIR. Many forms say the duty to disclose continues until appointment. Silence on a case registered later is treated much the same way as concealment at the start.

For the specific question of an FIR you left out of the form, see the guide on not mentioning an FIR in the attestation form. And where the verification report itself is wrong, for example a case of a namesake in the same village, our page on appointment cancelled after an adverse police verification explains how to get it corrected.

Height, chest and race disputes at the PE&MT

Measurement disputes are less common than medical and character cases, but they are bitter because they turn on a centimetre. The notice for constable posts fixes minimum height and, for male candidates, chest measurement with expansion, with relaxations for certain hill areas, ST candidates and some other categories. Candidates who think they were measured wrongly can usually seek an appeal measurement on the spot, and that is the moment to ask.

Once you have left the ground, it becomes very hard to show the measurement was wrong. The tribunal rarely orders re-measurement of height months later, because height can be presented differently on different days. A certificate from a private doctor will not carry much weight. The guide on remeasurement before an appellate board explains what the record should show.

Recent notices have also required male candidates for Constable (Executive) to hold a valid driving licence for a motorcycle or car by a stated date, and some candidates have been stopped at the PE&MT for not producing it. Check this condition in your own notice early, because a licence obtained after the cut-off date usually does not help.

Documents to keep together

Time and money: what to expect

SSC result problems that turn into Delhi Police disputes

Some disputes begin at the SSC stage and only surface later. A candidate whose category certificate was not in the format the notice asked for may clear the exam and the PE&MT, only to be shifted to the general list or rejected at document checking. In 2025 the Supreme Court held in Sakshi Arha that a category certificate must be held by the closing date, and courts have also allowed recruiting bodies to insist on the prescribed format, so these cases depend heavily on what the notice said.

Answer key and normalisation complaints have a narrow window. SSC opens objections for a few days after provisional keys are published, and the fee was reduced to Rs 50 per question in August 2025. Objections raised after that window rarely succeed, and the courts have upheld SSC's normalisation methods in principle. If your concern is the key or marks, act at the objection stage, not after the final result.

Where your name is missing from the SSC Delhi Police result because of a data error, such as a wrong roll number or category code in your application, write to SSC with proof as soon as you notice it. A correction that would have taken a week before the final result can become impossible after Delhi Police issues offers to the selected list.

How the tribunal approaches constable selection cases

The tribunal does not run a fresh recruitment. In constable selection cases, it checks whether the authority followed the notice and its own standing orders, considered the material before it, and gave a reason that holds up. If the Screening Committee wrote three lines saying 'the candidate is not suitable for a disciplined force' without discussing the offence or the acquittal, that is a weak order. If it discussed the facts and reached a reasonable view you disagree with, the tribunal usually leaves it alone.

The usual relief is a direction to reconsider within a fixed time, a direction for a fresh medical examination by an independent board, or, in clearer cases, a direction to issue the offer of appointment. Seniority from the original batch and back wages are much harder and are usually given, if at all, notionally. Interim relief, such as keeping one post vacant, is sometimes granted where the case looks strong and the batch is about to be filled; see our page on interim orders at the tribunal.

Advocate B.K. Singh's second tip is about timing: file while your batch is still in training. Tribunals are more willing to direct a fresh medical or reconsideration when the recruitment is current and posts are still being filled, and it is easier for the department to comply. A case filed two years later may still succeed, but the remedy becomes harder to give.

Mistakes candidates make, and what to do this week

The most common mistakes are writing to the wrong office, missing the review window, hiding an old FIR, and relying on a private 'fit' certificate. Another is filing several short representations to different officers instead of one clear one addressed to the recruitment cell with all documents. Each of these makes the eventual tribunal case weaker than it needed to be.

This week, collect your notice, admit cards, unfit memo or cancellation letter, and every court paper connected with any FIR. If a review window is still open, use it. If a show cause is pending, reply on facts and attach the court record. If the decision is final, file an RTI for the Committee minutes or the medical board record so that you know what the department actually considered.

If you have been declared unfit or held unsuitable in a Delhi Police constable recruitment, you can contact Advocate B.K. Singh for advice on your papers or for updates on recruitment rulings.