PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
In an important ruling, the Uttarakhand High Court declared as unconstitutional a provision in the State Public Service Commission’s recruitment examination that did not allow candidates to verify their answer sheets before the final results of all stages of the test are announced.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay gave the order while hearing petitions that sought answer sheets of the shorthand examination conducted for recruitment to the post of Additional Private Secretary (APS), the court sources said, adding that as per existing rules, the answer sheet of the shorthand test, which is part of the first stage of the recruitment process, would be released when the final results are announced after the second stage.
The court granted candidates who failed to pass the shorthand test the right to verify their answer sheets after the test results of this specific test are declared.
The division bench asserted in its order that transparency and fairness in the recruitment process are constitutionally mandated and candidates cannot be denied information related to evaluation.
The petitioners stated before the court that the commission did not allow them to inspect their shorthand notebooks and typed answer sheets, making it impossible to verify the accuracy of the evaluation.
The first stage of the selection process include skill tests such as Hindi and English typing, computer knowledge, and shorthand. Only the candidates who passed this stage were eligible to appear for the second stage- the written examination.
