[Nellie N Manpoong]
NAHARLAGUN, Jun 20: The court hearing on the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Combined Competitive Examination (APPSCCE) was rescheduled for Friday after the judge was briefed on the case at the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court here on Thursday.
While lawyers and candidates engaged in the case did not wish to make a statement before the final verdict on the case is out, it was learnt that the new judge was updated on the history of the case.
He also heard the arguments placed by the advocate general, who represented the state government. The advocate general is expected to place his arguments again on either Friday or Monday.
On Thursday, the court said it could not give a concrete decision without considering the opinion of the expert committee which the court had ordered on 14 November last year to be formed.
The Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) had engaged a team of subject experts soon after the candidates had come forward claiming anomalies in the APPPSCCE (prelims) question papers of 29 July, 2018.
The APPSC had reportedly awarded compensatory marks for the errors, and one of the complainant candidates had cleared the APPSCCE (prelims).
However, the issue took a complex turn after some candidates who had cleared the prelims sought for the mains exams to be withheld until the verdict on the prelims was out.
It is to be noted that the divisional bench of the Gauhati High Court had also put an interim stay on the formation of the subject experts’ committee to be headed by the Rajiv Gandhi University vice chancellor.
The first preliminary of the APPSCCE was held on 26 November, 2017. The second preliminary was held on 29 July, 2018. The mains were held on 10 November, 2018, amid protests by candidates who had passed the prelims.
The results of the mains have been put on hold as the matter is sub judice in the court.
