The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently dismissed a petition seeking to postpone the May 21 preliminary examination for Haryana Civil Services (Executive Branch) and other Allied Services-2022.
The plea also requested that the examination for the post of Excise and Taxation Inspector, which is being held on the same date by the Punjab Subordinate Services Selection Board, be postponed.
A single bench of Justice Survir Sehgal observed:
“Conducting of an examination for thousands of candidates is a herculean task and involves micro and macro planning spread over a period of months. A single person cannot hold the entire recruitment process at ransom. The Court has to weigh the interest of a solitary petitioner with that of teeming number of aspirants.”
The petitioner Parminder Kaur has applied for both the exams and prayed that either of the two examinations may be directed to be deferred. Her counsel claimed that the Punjab Examination, which was originally scheduled for February 22, had been postponed due to technical issues. The postponement was attributed to the fact that the Punjab Public Service Commission had scheduled an examination for 159 Civil Judges (Junior Division-cum-Judicial Magistrates) on the same day.
According to the counsel for the Haryana Public Service Commission, a total of 93,600 candidates have applied to appear in the preliminary examination, which will be held in 341 centers across the state, and only three candidates, including the petitioner, have submitted representations for postponement due to conflicting dates with the Punjab Examination.
According to Rohit Bansal, Senior DAG, Punjab, who represents the S.S.S. Board, 68,043 candidates have applied for the Punjab Examination, and the process is already advanced, with admit cards being issued. He also stated that while 60 applicants requested a postponement, 31 others requested that the examination not be postponed. Bansal argued that any further delay would jeopardize the recruitment process and create uncertainty for applicants.
The bench noted that the petitioner had made representations to both the HPSC and the S.S.S. Board following the release of the tentative schedule.
“Despite the lapse of almost three weeks, even though, she did not receive any response, petitioner did not take any step to approach this Court. This petition has been filed by her when the examination is around the corner. No reason, whatsoever, has been given by the petitioner in the writ petition for the delay. The argument of the counsel that the petitioner was seeking legal advice, is of no avail,” the bench stated, adding that aside from the petitioner, no other candidate had approached the court.
The court stated that postponing either of the examinations will not be in the interest of anyone.
“On the one hand, the administrative work suffers due to the vacancies of the various government posts and on the other hand, the job aspirants, who may be travelling from different places, are left in the lurch due to uncertainty of the dates for holding the examination,” it noted while dismissing the plea.
