Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 23 Feb: The Joint Committee Against Null and Void Demand – a group of officers affected by the demand of the aspirants and protestors for declaring null and void the exams conducted by the APPSC – on Thursday appealed to the state government and the people not to be swayed by the overwhelming public opinion.
In a press statement, the affected officers urged the government and the people not to go against the rules of natural justice.
The officers said that their intention is to “secure indemnity for the innocent government employees and officers who have been recruited by virtue of their hard work and competence.”
“It is our ardent request that the government and the people of Arunachal should not be swayed by the tide of overwhelming public opinion and deprive us of our fundamental rights or go against the rules of natural justice which are foundational and fundamental concepts of law,” the officers stated.
The government’s decision to write to the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) regarding the null and void demand after the protesters had seized the state capital has caused a rippling effect among the officers.
“We reiterate that we strongly oppose the demand for ‘null and void’ put forward by the PAJSC, which the government has agreed to send to the APPSC. The only way that justice can be done to all deserving candidates is by allowing the investigation process to complete,” the press statement read.
It said that the government’s handing over of the decision to the APPSC “has severely disrupted the functioning of the government setup.”
The affected officers argued that “painting entire batches in the same colour would be travesty of the principles of natural justice,” and called for “speeding up the arrests of the guilty, cleaning up the system, and ensuring prompt and transparent investigation to resolve the crisis.”
The officers further stated that a wrong trend would be set if the government succumbs to the null and void demand. They cited the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case of Joginder Pal vs State of Punjab, 2014.
The statement read also that “the government’s consideration of the demand for null and void and to forward the matter to the APPSC, when there is an already undergoing investigation, puts a question mark on the job security and integrity of all the affected batches which have been immensely demotivated.”
