[ Amar Sangno ]
NAHARLAGUN, Sep 16: The Itanagar permanent bench of the Gauhati High Court here on Monday directed that the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Combined Competitive (Prelims and Mains) Examination be held afresh.
Justice Nelson Sailo, hearing the petition – WP (c) No 475 (AP) of 2018 – stated that “the prelims conducted on 29.07.2018 and results declared on 02.08.2018 and 16.08.2018 are hereby set aside. In view thereof, the mains conducted on 10.11.2018 also do not survive and stands set aside.”
The court further directed the APPSC to conduct fresh preliminary examination, strictly following the rules, guidelines and syllabus, within a period of eight weeks.
The court also ruled that the commission should allow all the candidates who had been given admit cards to appear for the prelims to be conducted. It said the admit cards already issued may be used by the candidates for participating in the prelims, and that the commission should issue fresh admit cards to candidates who do not have them.
Not surprisingly, the aggrieved candidates have lapped up the court’s ruling.
“We are happy that our genuine cause against the arbitrariness has yielded a good result. We hope that youths will now be inspired to stand against what is wrong,” said a candidate who was among the 221 candidates from various subjects who had challenged the commission in the high court.
However, the candidates who believe they performed well in the examination expressed displeasure over the judgment.
“All our hard work, time and energy have been dragged to the graveyard in a stroke. This not fair! This exam has taken almost three years of my life,” said a candidate who was not happy with the court’s ruling.
“Why are we at the receiving end despite following all the norms and rules as prescribed by the commission and the honourable high court?” she said.
The legal battle had hung many candidates’ fates by a thread as the examination process took almost three years. Reportedly, many candidates are on the verge of becoming overage.
The first preliminary of the APPSCCE had been 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.
