JAMMU, Sept 6: High Court has stayed the KAS (Mains) notification issued by Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to the extent it declares those 429 candidates, who had been selected in the first merit list but subsequently dropped in the revised selection list, as ineligible for appearing in the Mains examination. The High Court has also directed the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to allow the candidates who are parties in the writ petition to appear in KAS (Mains) Examination.
The J&K Public Service Commission, vide Notification No. PSC/EXM/2016/52 dated 18-06-2016 advertised 277 posts in Junior Scale of J&K Administrative Service, J&K Police (Gazetted) Service and J&K Accounts (Gazetted) Service and applications were invited for admission to the KAS (Preliminary) Examination.
The candidates who were eligible as per applicable rules applied for their selection and appointment in pursuance of this notification. After holding preliminary examination, the Public Service Commission vide the Notification No. PSC/Exam/2017/22 dated 23.04.2017 declared 6925 out of 47000 (approx) candidates to have qualified for the admission to the KAS (Mains) Examination on the basis of the merit obtained by them in the preliminary examination.
Accordingly, the qualified candidates were directed by the Public Service Commission to fill up the forms for the KAS (Mains) Examination. The cut-off mark was declared as 270.477 marks out of aggregate of 450 marks. The candidates who scored marks above the cut-off point, i.e. 270.477 were declared to have qualified for KAS (Mains) examination.
However, Public Service Commission in violation of rules fixed a revised cut off point at 277.275 points and issued a fresh list of candidates (in exclusion of 429 candidates, who were figuring in the first selection list), and declared them to have qualified for admission to the KAS (Mains) Examination.
The candidates, who had been declared eligible in the first selection list to appear in KAS (Mains) exam and were subsequently dropped in the revised list, challenged the revised selection list before the High Court through their counsel Arif Sikandar Mir.
Justice M K Hanjura, after hearing Advocate Arif Sikandar Mir, stayed the revised selection list. However, on the next date of hearing, the Public Service Commission made a statement before the High Court that they will accord positive consideration to the candidates who had been selected in the first merit list but subsequently dropped in the revised selected list and pass the speaking orders.
However, in contemptuous disregard of its own statement recorded before High Court, the Public Service Commission issued a fresh notification bearing No. PSC/Exam/2017/49 dated 25.08.2017 asking the candidates who had been selected vide revised list to fill up the forms for KAS (Mains) Exam and also deemed 429 candidates who had been selected in the first merit list but subsequently dropped in the revised selected list as ineligible for KAS (Mains) exam.
Feeling aggrieved, candidates who were declared ineligible for appearing in the Mains examination again knocked the doors of High Court through their counsel Arif Sikandar Mir, who submitted that non-inclusion of petitioners was based on re-evaluation which was challenged on the ground of being against the rules.
He further submitted that the Rule 31 and Rule 33 enunciated in J&K Public Service Commission (Conduct of Examinations) Rules, 2005 prohibit re-evaluation of the answer scripts of the candidates who have appeared in J&K Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination. “Rule 8 of SRO 387 does not allow Public Service Commission to resettle the result by fixing a revised cut-off mark with a retrospective effect”, he said, adding “this amounts to changing the rules of selection and also takes away the existing rights of the petitioners which is impermissible as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court in its judicial pronouncements titled Tej Prakash Pathak Versus Rajasthan High Court and A A Calton Versus Director of Education and Anr”.
He submitted that the PSC has violated the orders of the High Court which not only forms a ground for proceeding against them for contempt of court but also gives a cause to the petitioners for bringing into notice of the court that approach adopted by the Public Service Commission was not only unfair and uncalled but arbitrary too.
The counsel for Public Service Commission Azhar-ul-Amin on being asked by the High Court as to why the Public Service Commission has ignored the final orders passed on their instructions in the previous writ petition which amounts to violation of the court orders, submitted that the Commission was still in the process to implement the order.
After hearing both the sides, Justice Ali Mohammad Magrey observed, “the court is satisfied that there exist not just one but many reasons to entertain the writ petition. However, it would be inappropriate to offer comments at this stage when the pleadings are incomplete and parties are yet to be heard on merits”, adding “nonetheless, prima facie a case for grant of ad-interim relief is made out”.
Accordingly, High Court stayed the KAS (Mains) Notification bearing No. PSC/Exam/2017/49 dated 25.08.2017 issued by Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission to the extent it declares those 429 candidates ineligible for appearing in Combined Competitive (Mains) Examination, 2016 and directed the Public Service Commission to allow the candidates who are parties in the writ petition to appear in the combined Competitive (Mains) Examination, 2016.
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