Appointments for Grade III Teachers must reflect accurate merit while adhering to court directives on recruitment processes, ensuring transparency and fairness in selections.

JUDGMENT :

J.K. MAHESHWARI, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. Applications for impleadment/intervention are allowed.

3. These Civil Appeals pertain to the recruitment, selection and appointment of the Grade III Teachers (level I and level II) in various places across 33 districts in the State of Rajasthan. The advertisement was issued on 24.02.2012 notifying 39544 posts, out of which, 10690 posts were for level I (Class 1 to 5) and 28935 posts for level II (Class 6 to 8). Indisputably, the recruitment was conducted district wise through the Panchayati Raj Department. The examination was held on 02.06.2012 and results were declared on 27.08.2012 and the orders of appointment were issued.

4. The batch of unsuccessful candidates challenged the process of selection before the High Court, inter-alia contending that flawed answer keys were given, which led to erroneous result of the examination. In the pleadings, illustration and examples of the questions and their answers were given, which has been discussed by the High Court. However, after analysing the contentions, the High Court in the case of Ramdhan Kumawat vs. State of Rajasthan & Anr., (S.B. Civil Writ Petition No.10622 of 2014) vide judgment dated 18.11.2014, issued the following directions :

“9. In that view of the matter, the Court deems it proper to give the following directions :

(i) The respondent No.1-State Government in Panchayati Raj Department shall appoint an Expert committee for preparing the model answer keys to the question papers of all subjects in respect of the examination held on 2/6/2012 for the posts of Teacher Gr.II (Level I & II) at different Districts. The said Expert Committee shall comprise of the experts who are either Readers or Senior Professors in Rajasthan University or a very learned and reputed persons in the concerned subject. They shall be appointed by the respondent No.1 at the earliest and latest by 28/11/2014.

(ii) The said Expert Committee shall prepare the model answer keys, taking recourse to the standard text books prescribed for being taught in the schools and standard reference books used for colleges, published by the Education Boards or the State Government, or shall take recourse to other government publications or materials, which are officially put on the government website or used for the information of public at large, or to the publications of the books written by the authors recognized by the Government as the authority on a particular subject. The Expert Committee shall disclose the source of information relied upon by them for each of the answer keys, while submitting their reports to the respondent No.1.

(iii) The Expert Committee shall prepare the model answer keys on or before 15/12/2014 and shall cause them to be put on the website of the Government in Panchayati Raj Department on the same date, inviting objections from the candidates who had appeared in the examination in question.

(iv) The candidates shall submit their objections before the concerned Expert Committee on or before 18/12/2014. The Expert Committee, after taking into consideration the objections, if any submitted by the candidates, shall prepare final model answer keys for each of the question papers of the concerned subjects and submit the same to the respondent No.1 in the sealed cover not later than 22/12/2014.

(v) The respondent No.1 shall prepare the merit list afresh of the selected candidates for being appointed in the respective zila Parishads on the basis of the said model answer keys prepared by the experts committee as early as possible and put on the Government website latest by 31/12/2014.

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