PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
Haryana Staff Selection Commission, Panchkula Vs. Rahul and another
LPA-1037-2023
CORAM: HON’BLE MR. G.S. SANDHAWALIA; VIKRAM AGGARWAL
FACT:
In the Common Entrance Test (CET) examination conducted on November 5-6, 2022, a total of 773,000 candidates participated. Among them, 358,000 candidates successfully met the qualifying criteria, as the threshold was set at 50% for the General Category and 40% for the Reserved Category. The rationale that predominantly influenced the decision of the learned Single Judge in the subject judgment was that individuals who had retracted their claims for Socio-Economic Criteria were still summoned to take part in the written exam, without proper validation being conducted. Consequently, the learned Single Judge concluded that the pool of candidates under consideration was being restricted, since if the number of available positions exceeds 40, then four times the number of candidates should be summoned. This led to ineligible individuals occupying spots in the candidate selection process for the written examination, which the current judgment has temporarily suspended. Mr. Mahajan has emphasized that among the 358,000 qualified candidates, 268,000 candidates had originally made claims under the Socio-Economic Criteria according to the notification issued on May 5, 2022. Due to public notices indicating that these criteria could contribute up to 5% of the marks, which are based on factors such as (i) absence of a family member’s government employment, (ii) gross annual family income below ₹1,80,000, (iii) belonging to a de-notified tribe, and (iv) having experience working with any Department/Board/Corporation, a total of 41,587 candidates withdrew their claims under the Socio-Economic Criteria.
COURT ANALYSIS AND DECISION:
The principle of elimination that the learned Single Judge has introduced at this juncture is practically unattainable from a human perspective. It was highlighted that the outcomes of the CET examination are valid for a span of three years, and candidates who qualify with the minimum marks would always remain eligible for consideration in subsequent rounds of advertised positions. Consequently, no disadvantage would be incurred by them. Additionally, it was argued that reaching a conclusion without the completion of pleadings would not have been appropriate. A notice of motion will be sent to the respondent for a hearing on September 1, 2023. In the interim, the ongoing examination scheduled for the current weekend, today and tomorrow (or any rescheduled date set by the appellant, as the test initially arranged for today has been reportedly postponed), will proceed. However, the results will not be disclosed and will be subject to the final determination of the ongoing appeal.
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