HC dismisses pleas on questions in KAS prelims
Srinagar, Apr 4: Observing that the petitioners had failed to file any representation in regard to the six questions in the J&K Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination which was held on 24 October last year, High Court of J&K and Ladakh has dismissed two pleas seeking proportionate marks for alleged “wrong” questions.
A bench of justice D S Thakur also imposed Rs 50,000 costs on the petitioners for “not coming with clean hands” before the court saying it took lenient view against any serious action against them “considering the fact that their future may be adversely affected and they are unemployed and most of them come from humble background.”
“In the present case, in view of the fact that the subject experts have already opined on the 06 questions, which had been highlighted… and rejected the objections so raised (by the candidates other than the petitioners) and in view of the fact that the petitioners had not raised even a murmur and failed to file any representation in regard to the aforementioned 06 questions, I do not deem it necessary to even venture to determined as to whether the questions so highlighted on the face of it were either vague or the answers/options to those questions were incorrect,” Court said.
The Court said even otherwise it cannot substitute its view for opinion expressed by the experts with regard to the six questions in keeping with Supreme Court Judgments.
On behalf of the PSC advocate Azhar-ul-Amin submitted that the petitioners had clearly made a wrong statement in petitions regarding the filing of the representations in terms of Rule 12B with the Commission.
“The petitioners having failed to avail the remedy of filing a representation must be deemed to have accepted and acquiesced in the action of the Public Service Commission in either deleting the requisite number of questions or correcting the answer keys to that extent and waived their right to throw a challenge to the process of selection and the procedure adopted by the PSC,” the court said