GMC Deputy Medical Superintendents’ Appointment: CAT directs JKPSC to produce original selection record by Dec 26

Srinagar, Dec 7: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in Srinagar has directed the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) to produce the original record pertaining to the selection processes of Deputy Medical Superintendents in Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) Srinagar and Jammu.

Issuing notice on a related plea, a division bench of Justice Ritu Tagore, Member (J), and Prasant Kumar, Member (A), directed the JKPSC through its Chairman and Secretary to produce the record in original in a sealed cover by December 26.

In his plea, a candidate, Dr Kulbir Singh Jat, has questioned the Notification No 74-PSC (DR-S) of 2025 dated November 3, whereby the JKPSC issued the provisional selection list for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent in the GMCs.

Dr Jat contends that he has been “unjustifiably excluded from the list”.

He was initially declared to have passed the written examination conducted by the JKPSC.

However, his candidature was later rejected on the grounds that he lacked the requisite experience.

He approached the CAT in 2024, challenging the rejection of his candidature for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent in a plea wherein he said that the JKPSC’s action to declare him ineligible was “arbitrary”.

A five-member expert panel headed by Director Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), constituted in the wake of CAT’s directions, declared eligible for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent, Dr Jat, whose candidature was rejected as “ineligible” after he had qualified for the interview earlier.

Accepting the expert panel’s final report, duly attested by Secretary JKPSC, the tribunal directed the JKPSC to conduct the interview of the candidate (Dr Jat).

In this way, the tribunal had accepted Dr Jat’s plea that he was eligible as “he possessed the requisite qualification of post-graduation (PG) in surgery and had three years of working experience of ‘running a hospital’ after PG for the post of Deputy Medical Superintendent in GMCs.

Now, in his fresh plea through Advocate Mudasir Bin Hassan, Dr Jat has called in question the JKPSC’s notification dated November 3, 2025, whereby the provisional selection list was notified.

He submits that immediately after the provision selection list was made public, he sought disclosure of cut-off marks and other related information under the RTI Act, but the JKPSC has failed to furnish him the same so far.

In his plea, the candidate contends that as per the selection notification, he has been awarded disproportionately low marks, 25.98 in the written examination, while all other candidates across related notifications – 28, 31, and 40 - have been awarded more than 50 percent marks.

On behalf of Dr Jat, his counsel submitted before the tribunal that he (Dr Jat) alone has been shown to have secured less than 40 percent marks while still being declared as having “qualified,” which “raises serious doubts about the fairness, transparency, and credibility of the evaluation process”.

He contended that Dr Jat has been awarded only 25.98 marks in the written examination, which is in stark contrast to similarly situated candidates, the lowest among whom has been awarded 46.58 marks.

“The viva-voce carries only 10 marks. Even if the PSC had awarded the applicant a perfect score of 10 out of 10 in the viva-voce, the total marks of the applicant (Dr Jat) would still have been only 35.98 (that is 25.98 in the written examination plus 10 in viva-voce),” the counsel said. “This would still fall far short of the 50 percent threshold that is otherwise being reflected in the marks of the selected candidates. Therefore, it becomes evident that even after being declared to have qualified the written examination, the applicant could not have been selected on the basis of the marks subsequently shown against his name.”

The counsel submitted that all candidates who participated in the selection process pursuant to notifications 28, 31, and 40 have been shown to have secured more than 50 percent marks in the written examination and thereby declared to have passed the test.

“It is only the applicant (Dr Jat) who has been shown to have secured less than 40 percent marks in the written examination and yet simultaneously shown as having qualified the examination,” he said.

The counsel submitted that the action of the JKPSC in awarding only 25.98 marks to Dr Jat in the written examination, despite earlier declaring him “qualified,” is “ex facie irrational, discriminatory, and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India”.

He submitted that once Dr Jat was admitted to the viva-voce stage pursuant to the tribunal’s orders, there was no justification for retrospectively slashing his written marks.

“This selective downgrading of marks appears to be a retaliatory measure aimed at penalising the applicant for approaching this tribunal earlier,” the counsel said.

He said this itself demonstrates that the “JKPSC has intentionally slashed the written examination marks of Dr Jat so as to ensure that he does not get selected, apparently as a punitive reaction to him having earlier approached the tribunal for redressal of his legitimate grievances”.

The counsel submitted that the “entire process conducted and concluded by the JKPSC is, therefore, vitiated by mala fides and ulterior motives and sought to set aside the notification dated November 3”.