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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI
Jyoti Singh, J.
Abhishek Kumar - Appellant
Versus
Office of District and Sessions Judge (HQ) - Respondent
W.P.(C) 7122 of 2020 & CM Appl. 24183 of 2020 and W.P.(C) 11136 of 2020 & CM Appl. 34758 of 2020
Decided On : 20-04-2021
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. challenge to recruitment process regarding test modifications (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10) |
| 2. petitioner's application and grievances about deo post (Para 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16) |
| 3. arguments against dispensing descriptive test for selection (Para 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24) |
| 4. respondents' defense of selection process changes (Para 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31) |
| 5. court's review of arguments and evidence presented (Para 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38) |
| 6. undisputed facts about examination scheme and allegations (Para 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43) |
| 7. legal interpretation of 'written test' in recruitment rules (Para 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50) |
| 8. effect of urgency on recruitment process according to rules (Para 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57) |
| 9. court's stance on authority's discretion in recruitment (Para 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65) |
| 10. dismissal of petitions with no merit found (Para 66) |
JUDGMENT
Jyoti Singh, J. (Oral)--Present writ petitions have been preferred by the Petitioner challenging the impugned action of the Respondents whereby, the descriptive test of 100 marks has been dispensed with and consequently, the marks of the interview have been reduced during the process of recruitment to the posts of Junior Judicial Assistant (hereinafter referred to as `the JJA') and Data Entry Operator (Grade-A) (hereinafter referred to as `DEO (Grade-A)'). As the Petitioner had applied in the General/Unreserved category, these petitions pertain only to the said category. Since common questions are involved in both the writ petitions, they are being disposed of by a common judgment and facts to the extent they are different in the two writ petitions are being separately narrated hereinafter.
W.P. (C) 7122/2020
2. Respondent No.1/Office of District & Sessions Judge (HQs) issued a combined Vacancy Notice/Advertisement on 14.09.2020 inviting applications for recruitment to the vacant posts of Senior Personal Assistant, Personal Assistant, Junior Judicial Assistant and Data Entry Operator for the Office of District & Sessions Judge (HQs) Delhi and Office of Principal Judge, Family Courts (HQs) Delhi. Present petition is confined to the post of JJA for which, total 161 vacancies were advertised, out of which 62 were in the Unreserved Category.
3. Scheme of the examination delineated the selection into four phases/Tiers, as follows:
Tier I:
Objective test with 120 questions for total 120 marks. @B-0=Tier II:
Skill test (typing test): Candidates who scored 50% marks (General Category) i.e. 60 marks (50% of 120) in Tier I (MCQ test) or 25 times of the total vacancies (whichever will the minimum number) were to be called for the skill test @ 40 w.p.m. The skill test was qualifying in nature.
Tier III:
Descriptive test: Candidates who qualified the skill test were to be called for the descriptive test in English Language with total 100 marks. The test included Essay, Grammar and Translation with minimum passing marks in General Category being 50% i.e. 50 marks out of 100 marks.
Tier IV:
Interview of 30 marks (for maximum of 10 times of the total vacancies). The minimum passing marks for General category candidates were 40% of 30 marks i.e. 12 marks.
4. It was notified in the advertisement that the selection of the candidates shall be in accordance with `Delhi District Courts Establishment (Appointment & Conditions of Service) Rules, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as `the Recruitment Rules'). Final merit list of successful candidates was to be prepared on the basis of marks obtained in aggregate of the performance in objective test (MCQ), descriptive test and interview.
5. Petitioner fulfilled the eligibility criteria and submitted his application for the post of JJA in the Unreserved Category on 21.01.2019. His application was found to be in order and an E-admit card was issued to him on 23.11.2019. Petitioner appeared for the objective test on 29.11.2019 and the result thereof
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