Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 17: In a major setback for Home Department, the High Court has put on hold the selection process of hundreds of Sub Inspector posts and directed the authorities not to issue their appointment orders.
Challenging the selection of 473 Sub Inspectors, the non-selectees have approached the Court through their counsel Advocate M Y Bhat submitting that the selection for the post the SIs is full of discrepancies.
Justice Rashid Ali Dar directed that no appointment order shall be issued till response by the Commissioner/Secretary to Home Department and members of selection committee is filed.
Justice Dar also called for whole record pertaining to the selection for the perusal of the Court and record pertaining to the action imitated, if any, on receipt of the complaints received from aggrieved candidates for probe into irregularities and discrepancies.
Court also directed that further action in pursuance of selection process has to remain subject outcome of writ petition.
It has been contended before the Court that the failure on the part of the officials to constitute a board in terms of SRO 202 of which reference was made also in advertisement notice for making selection for the SIs, vitiated the whole process and the participation in the selection process would not make any difference.
Petitioners through their counsel have submitted before the Court that the higher officials have facilitated mass copying in one of the centers where 620 candidates appeared, out of whom 499 were shortlisted for interview and wherein 185 candidates have been selected and 39 have figured in the waiting list.
Another ground which the non-selectees have taken with regard to “bad selection” by the higher official is that no CCTV technology has been used to video-graph various stages of recruitment for maintenance of backup of the record and tracking of activities at various recruitment centers as was necessary in terms of advertisement notice itself.
To rebuke all these submissions made by the petitioner-counsel, the State counsel submitted that reply to the contentions raised in the petition have been prepared and on the basis of record provided to him by the officials no discrepancies have taken place in the selection process.
The advertisement for 482 posts of Sub Inspectors (Executive Cadre) and 176 posts in Armed Police Cadre was issued in December 2016 and selection for these posts was issued on December 2018.
Petitioners in the present case are seeking quashing of selection of 473 candidates reflected in the selection list as also the selection of candidates who appeared in the examination center situated at Channi, Jammu wherein as per the petitioners mass copying has taken place.
They also prayed that appropriate action be taken against the selection committee members and erring officers who allowed to commit fraud and who did not preserve CCTV footage of the Centre at Channi Jammu.
“After quashing the selection of selected candidates, officials be directed to select and appoint the petitioners against the posts of Sub Inspector with all consequential benefits from the date other candidates are selected and appointed”, read the petition.
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