SC Appoints Justice Sikri To Look Into Haryana Judicial Service Recruitment Issue [Read Order]

The former judge have been asked to look into the answer scripts of candidates to inform the court whether the pattern followed in evaluation should be accepted by the Court.

Earlier, the court had issued notice on the challenge to the selection process and the evaluation method adopted in the Mains Examination for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in Haryana, the results of which were declared on April 11. It had also restrained the Punjab and Haryana High Court from appointing Junior Civil Judges in Haryana Judicial Service without the leave of the Court.

The Registrar General of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana was required to be present in the court today with the records of the selection, including the evaluation of the answer scripts of all the candidates.

Regarding the recruitment process in the Haryana Civil Service (Judicial Branch) Examination- 2017 as arbitrary and malafide, it was pointed out before the court that, only 9 students (inclusive of all categories) have been selected for the interview for a total of 107 vacancies, despite the required number of candidates to be called for viva voice having been clearly mentioned as thrice the number of advertised posts.

It is said that against 107 advertised vacancies of Civil Judge (Junior Division) in the State of Haryana, more than thirty-four thousand candidates applied and more than fourteen thousand appeared in the preliminary examination. Twelve hundred eighty-two candidates qualified for the main examination in which eleven hundred ninety-five candidates appeared. The results were declared on 11th April, 2019, and only nine candidates were found fit for the viva-voce.

The bench issued this order on Friday:

"Having considered the matter, we request a former Judge of this Court, Justice A.K. Sikri to look into some of the answer scripts of the main written examination at His Lordship's discretion to make an assessment whether the evaluation undertaken should be accepted by the Court. The High Court will place before Justice A.K. Sikri, the answer scripts of all the candidates, who have appeared in the main written examination, out of which at his discretion, His Lordship may select some of the answer scripts for further evaluation. We request Justice A.K. Sikri to communicate his views and findings at the earliest."

Read the Order Here