[ Nellie N Manpoong ]
NAHARLAGUN, Jun 19: The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) is yet to have subject experts check the alleged irregularities in the question papers of the commission’s Combined Competitive Examinations (APPSCCE) 2017-18, prompting the judge not to give a decision in the matter.
Representing the candidates, advocate Abhist Hela informed that the judge could not give a decision as subject experts had not been brought in to check the alleged anomalies in the 22 question papers of the APPSCCE.
Advocate General Niloy Dutta will be representing the state government at the hearing scheduled for Thursday at the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court here.
On 14 November, 2018, the court here had directed the vice chancellor (VC) of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU) to constitute an expert committee to analyze the matter and submit a report within 45 days.
In turn, the RGU had placed an interlocutory application in the court to direct the state government to bear the expenses that would be incurred in constituting the expert committee to look into the alleged irregularities.
The RGU had noted that it would require 70 subject experts for the 22 different subjects of the APPSCCE (prelims), saying the experts would have to be requisitioned from various universities in India, for which the applicant (RGU) would have to bear the expenses involved in accommodation, travel and honorarium, among other things.
The RGU registrar had said “at least a minimum of Rs 15,00,000 will be involved in the entire process.”
However, since the court did not give any specific direction as to who would bear the expenditure, the RGU had requested the court to consider directing the state government to bear the expenses that may be incurred by the expert committee headed by the RGU VC while evaluating the alleged irregularities in all the 22 subjects.
“The fate of hundreds of candidates who had appeared for the APPSCCE now remains to be seen as the advocate general places his argument on Thursday,” said APPSCCE candidate Biken Nyickyor.
“Whether it works out or not depends on the government. We have been waiting for long, and I hope the government considers our prayer,” he said.
On 23 December, 2018, the APPSC had approached the Gauhati HC, seeking a double bench against the 14 November judgment for setting up an expert committee.
The commission had filed a writ appeal in the HC against the judgment and sought for the order to be “set aside and quashed.”
The first preliminary of the APPSCCE had been held on 26 November, 2017. However, after anomalies in the preliminary question papers were reported, the APPSC held the second preliminary on 29 July, 2018.
The mains were held on 10 November amid protests by candidates who had qualified the prelims and demanded postponement of the mains exam till the court verdict on the alleged anomalies in the prelims was out.
However, the HC said the result of the examination would be subject to the final outcome of the writ petition filed by the aggrieved candidates, which is currently sub judice in the court.
