CAT directs PSC to produce mains result of 38 candidates

Srinagar, July 24: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar on Wednesday directed the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (PSC) to produce in a sealed cover result of thirty eight candidates who, appeared in the mains examination of J&K Combined Competitive Examination 2023 provisionally but their result was not declared in keeping with court directions.

A division bench comprising M S Latif, Member (J), and Prasant Kumar, Member (A) issued the direction in response to an application the candidates have filed through their counsel Arif Sikander Mir. The counsel submitted that the JKPSC on July 9 this year declared the result of the J&K Combined Competitive (Mains) Examination, 2023, saying, the result of the 38 candidates is, however, yet to be declared in view of orders passed by Tribunal on 05-03-2024.

While the bench issued notice on the plea which was accepted by Advocate Insha vice Shah Amir, standing counsel for JKPC, it said:  “In the meanwhile, respondents shall produce the result of the applicants in a sealed cover before the Court on 29-07-2024. The result in sealed cover be produced before the Court through a Senior Officer of the JKPSC”.

The tribunal however made it clear that mere declaration of result would not confer any preferential right upon the applicants and their rights shall remain subject to the final outcome of the their plea.

These candidates had challenged PSC’s notification dated November 18, 2023, related to a revised answer key with the contention that the same was illegal as an answer key based on an expert opinion had already been notified by the commission.

The aggrieved candidates through their counsel submitted that there was no provision in the Business Rules of the PSC or the Rules for Conduct of Examinations that there could be a review of the final answer key.

Their contention was that sub-rule E of Rule 10 of the J&K Public Service Commission (Conduct of Examination) Rules, 2022, that “the position of the team of experts should be final and binding upon all the stakeholders”.

“Once, vide notification dated October 27, 2023, the experts had given their opinion, there was no occasion for the respondent PSC to have yet again issued notification dated November 18, 2023,” they said.

In its reply, the PSC submitted that the revised result was notified given a number of representations having been received in the PSC regarding certain, purportedly, factual errors in the notified final answer key of the first paper.

The reply indicated that the PSC on receipt of representations took a sympathetic stance towards the concerns of the aspirants and decided to re-refer the concerns so raised to the experts for scrutiny once again.

It was further averred that with the revision of the result and the modification so made, a total number of 167 candidates including the applicant (aggrieved candidates) who were earlier declared to have qualified in the main examination as per result notification dated October 27, 2023, were falling below the revised cut off point, therefore, were ousted from the revised result.

Observing that a case for indulgence was made out, the tribunal accordingly, had ordered that the PSC would allow the applicants to appear provisionally in the J&K Combined Competitive Examination 2023 to be conducted in pursuance to Advertisement Notification No 12 PSC (DR-P) of 2023 dated April 13, 2023.

While the tribunal had made it clear that the applicants shall be allowed to appear in the mains strictly at their own risk and responsibility, it had said: “Mere appearance of the applicants in the examination shall not confer any preferential right upon them to claim for their appointment.”

“It is also directed that the result of the applicants shall not be declared unless otherwise directed by the court,” the tribunal had said.