In light of the ensuing controversy surrounding the conduct of the 2017 Haryana Judicial Services Preliminary Examination, the Punjab & Haryana High Court has annulled the same.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal, Rajan Gupta and GS Sandhawalia was hearing the petition filed by one Sunita, which alleges that the issue is not limited to mere leakage of the question paper, but is a “case of package deal up to the interview and final selection”.
The issue came to light when the petitioner got in touch with one Sushila, who leaked questions for the exam. The petitioner initially did not believe that the questions of such a prestigious exam could be leaked.
However, she got in touch with Sushila to elicit the truth and was shocked when she appeared for the preliminary exam to find that the questions disclosed by Sushila were present in the question paper. The husband of the petitioner made a complaint to the Chief Justice of Punjab & Haryana High Court on the administrative side.
The matter was initially heard by a single judge, who issued notice to the Registrar (Recruitment) of the Punjab & Haryana High Court on August 16, and later stayed the results of the exam.
Subsequently, Acting Chief Justice SS Saron proceeded to list the case before a 3-judge Bench, considering the gravity of the case and its public importance. A Recruitment Committee was looking into the matter.
Meanwhile, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the matter to the Delhi High Court. However, the same was dismissed by the apex court.
Then, in yesterday’s hearing before the three-judge Bench of the High Court, the Recruitment Committee’s report was perused by the Court. It was revealed that a total 760 calls and text messages were exchanged between Dr. Balwinder Sharma, Registrar (Recruitment) and the accused, Sunita during last one year. The Committee also recommended scrapping of the results.
And with the High Court having directed just that, the fate of this year’s exam hangs in the balance.
Reference-
Bar and Bench
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