In the case of appointment of a Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidate to the post of Assistant Professor, the double bench of Jharkhand High Court today rejected the appeal of Jharkhand Public Service Commission filed against the order of the single bench.
Upholding the order of the single bench, the double bench headed by Chief Justice M. S. Ramachandra Rao also imposed a fine of one lakh rupees on JPSC. The court had earlier reserved its judgement after hearing arguments of all parties.
The case relates to one Manoj Kumar Kachhap, who had appeared in a JPSC examination, but due to technical reasons, the amount of examination fee deposited in the account of JPSC could not be credited.
Owing to non-payment of the examination fees his application was considered invalid. Kachhap later knocked the door of the High Court and a single bench of the High Court had given the verdict in his favour.
The High Court had said, "Since the candidate has appeared in the interview in the light of the court's order and has secured the highest marks in the examination, he cannot be excluded from the appointment process. In some examinations, the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category is not charged examination fee, so technical error cannot take away their right."
Accepting the writ petition of Manoj Kumar Kachhap, the Jharkhand High Court had directed the commission to complete the appointment process and issue appointment letters within four weeks.
The single bench judgement was then challenged by JPSC by filing an appeal in the division bench of the High Court. And, finally the double bench upheld the earlier decision on Friday.
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