The Jharkhand High Court has come down heavily on the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) for apparent irregularities in the selection process for mathematics and science assistant teachers. The court has demanded a detailed explanation for why candidates with higher marks were excluded from the final merit list while those with lower scores found themselves among the selected candidates.
Court Questions Selection Anomalies
Justice Ananda Sen, presiding over the case on Thursday, directed the JSSC to provide a clear explanation for the questionable selection process. The court specifically questioned why candidates who had scored higher marks were systematically removed from the merit list, while those securing lesser marks were included in the list of selected candidates for the assistant teacher positions.
The judicial intervention came in response to a petition filed by Kishore Kumar and several other aggrieved candidates. The petitioners informed the court that despite having obtained more marks in the selection process, the Commission had arbitrarily removed their names from the final merit list, raising serious questions about the transparency of the recruitment process.
Petitioners' Arguments and Commission's Response
Representing the petitioners, counsel Chanchal Jain presented a compelling case before the court. He revealed that his clients had initially secured positions in the preliminary results and were duly directed to appear for district-level counseling. However, the Commission subsequently released an amended result that excluded the petitioners' names while including candidates with objectively lower marks.
Jain argued vehemently that the creation of an amended merit list appeared designed specifically to favor certain candidates at the expense of more qualified applicants. The counsel maintained that despite having legitimately secured higher marks through fair competition, the petitioners were unjustly ousted from the selection process, suggesting possible manipulation of the recruitment system.
Court's Interim Order and Future Proceedings
Taking serious note of the apparent irregularities, the Jharkhand High Court issued significant interim relief to the petitioners. The court ordered the JSSC to keep the assistant teacher posts for the petitioners reserved until the final decision of the case. This protective measure ensures that the positions remain available should the court rule in the petitioners' favor.
Additionally, the Commission has been directed to file a comprehensive affidavit explaining the methodology and justification behind excluding higher-scoring candidates from the merit list. The affidavit must detail the selection criteria and provide transparent reasoning for the controversial decisions that prompted the legal challenge.
The case has been scheduled for its next hearing after a fortnight, giving the JSSC adequate time to prepare its response and the court sufficient opportunity to examine the Commission's explanation for the alleged irregularities in the teacher recruitment process.
