Even Responsible Officers Fail To Line Up To Trust Which Courts Repose On Them: Punjab & Haryana High Court Holds Staff Selection Commission Guilty Of Contempt

The Petitioners approached the High Court seeking necessary verification of the candidates selected in the final selection list for the post of Junior Engineer (Civil) before making a final recommendation. The verification was sought to be made in terms of the directions issued by the High Court in Rajesh Kumar versus State of Haryana and others (2017), as reviewed vide order dated July 30, 2018.

The Single Bench of Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj observed, “The Courts generally tend to accept the affidavits filed by responsible officers, at their face value. The instant case, if at all, is an eye-opener that even responsible officers fail to line up to the confidence and trust which Courts repose on them. The Staff Selection Commission is ordained with a statutory task to make recruitment to Group ‘C’ & Group ‘D’ services. The marginalized segments of the society more often pin their hope on making it to that genre of posts. The large-scale public trust thus weighs upon such bodies and they are expected to have the strenuous shoulders to carry the burden and a strong spine to overcome external pressures and selfish interests. These constitutional as well as human values are the prime ingredient to ensure that right to equality and equality before law are not just a dead letter but are the soul behind constitutional objectives of equality.”

Advocate Jasbir Mor represented the Petitioners while Addl. A.G. Vivek Chauhan represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The case as set up by the petitioners was that the petitioners, being eligible for the post of Junior Engineer, had submitted their application for the post of Junior Engineer (Civil) under their respective categories and they appeared in the common written test conducted by the respondent-Haryana Staff Selection Commission for all the categories of the post of Junior Engineer for different Departments/Nigams. The petitioners cleared the written test for the said post. It was submitted that several selected candidates had claimed 5 marks for no government job in the family/orphan category etc. but the appointment orders were issued without verification of the certificates of the said candidates. The issue pertaining to large-scale malpractices being resorted to in the written exams conducted by the Staff Selection Commission was also highlighted.

Reasoning

The Bench noted that the Respondents were obligated to ensure compliance with the judgments passed by the Court in Rajesh Kumar (Supra) and reviewed on July 30, 2018, as it was binding upon the respondents. Reference was made to the documents from which it was clear that the bio-metric verification was being undertaken by the respondent-Commission; however, no explanation had been put forth as to why the said procedure had not been complied with in the case of Junior Engineer (Civil) as well.

“The conduct of respondent –Haryana Staff Selection Commission in selectively applying the mandatory directions given by this Court in its order dated 04.08.2017 modified on 30.07.2018 thus appears to be lacking bona fide. It is also well established from the record that the respondent-Commission is not only fully cognizant and aware of the directions contained but has also implemented the said directions. No explanation, however, has come forth as to what was the basis for deviating from the procedure that was mandated by the judgment of this Court and was to be applied universally with respect to all selection processes being undertaken by the respondent”, it said.

The Bench also highlighted that the Haryana Staff Selection Commission had been filing contradictory affidavits before the Court. Reference was made to an affidavit dated March 15, 2023 where the respondent-Commission had stated that they had undertaken the process of document verification in respect of all the selection processes that had been undertaken, however, in the short reply filed by way of an affidavit, the said process had been ignored completely with respect to the selection process in dispute herein.

“The respondents conveniently chose to be manipulative about the wording and posing as if verification of the documents and verification of the candidate is one process. While the verification of academic and other documents/undertaking given to establish eligibility and qualification for the post/category, the verification of the identity of the candidate could in no way have been undertaken by the Government”, it noted.As per the Bench, a mischievous attempt was made on the part of the Commission to deliberately choose misleading words to portray compliance despite being aware that the needful had not been done.

The Bench held, “Prima facie, the officials in the Haryana Staff Selection Commission are thus guilty of having committed a contempt of this Court and disobeying the specific directions issued, with impunity.” The Bench thus asked the Commission to recall the final result and carry out the verification process afresh after deleting the benefit of socio-economic criteria and the weightage assigned. The Bench also directed that a Show Cause Notice be served upon the Haryana Staff Selection Commission.

Cause Title: Kapil Saini v. State of Haryana and Another (Neutral Citation: 2025:PHHC:092540)

Appearance

Appellant: Advocate Jasbir Mor

Respondent: Addl. A.G. Vivek Chauhan

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