RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Feb.23: The process of preparing the revised list of the Sixth Combined Civil Service Competitive Examination conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) is on.
JPSC secretary Himanshu Mohan informed this without giving any deadline.
“The process of preparing the revised merit list is on,” Mohan said when contacted for his comment after the division bench of Jharkhand High Court comprising Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice S.N.Prasad upheld the order of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi by which the final result of the JPSC published in April 2020 was cancelled and appointment of 326 candidates was declared illegal.
Justice Dwivedi had directed the JPSC to bring out revised results within a span of eight weeks but it could not be possible as those appointed on the basis of April, 2020 result in the job challenged the order of the single judge bench order.
Thus after the division bench upheld the single judge bench order when JPSC secretary Mohan was asked regarding the deadline for publication of the revised list he expressed his inability to tell.
“I am not in a position to give any deadline right now,” secretary Mohan said.
Asked Mohan whether the JPSC may challenge the order in Supreme Court, he said the JPSC had not challenged the single judge bench order and thus it is the prerogative of those who had challenged the order.
Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan echoed the same. In an interview with an electronic media channel, he made it clear that neither the government nor the JPSC had challenged the order of the single bench. He said that the government was ready to comply with the order and is on the same stand.
Asked about the outcome of the order, AG Ranjan said that there will be no drastic change in the merit list. He, however, admitted that some new will come and some old will go. Asked about the number, he expressed his inability to tell, saying it is the jurisdiction of the JPSC, which is an independent constitutional body.
The sixth JPSC examination was held in 2016. Its result was published in April 2020. After it was found that the merit result was prepared adding the marks of qualifying papers, the result was challenged in the court and on June 7, 2021 it was cancelled with a direction to the JPSC to prepare a revised merit list within eight days. The court also directed the JPSC to identify those responsible for the irregularities and ensure action against them.
