Summary: Appellant applied for Police Constable Post and cleared the written examination and the Physical Eligibility Test – He was declared failed for the reason that in the application form uploaded online, his date of birth was shown as 08.12.1997, in the school mark sheet, his date of birth was reflected as 18.12.1997 – High Court dismissed his writ petition challenging this result -In appeal, Supreme Court held: the appellant has participated in the selection process and cleared all the stages successfully. The error in the application is trivial which did not play any part in the selection process. The State was not justified in making a mountain out of this molehill – We do not think that the appellant could be penalised for this insignificant error which made no difference to the ultimate result. Errors of this kind, as noticed in the present case, which are inadvertent do not constitute misrepresentation or wilful suppression.
Legal maxim – De minimis non curat lex – Law does not concern itself with trifles. (Para 15)