The court upheld that technical issues during an examination, addressed by the respondent, do not warrant a retake if the candidate fails to meet the cut-off marks.

Judgment :

Dr. Pushpendra Singh Bhati, J.

1. This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been preferred, claiming the following reliefs:

“It is, therefore, respectfully prayed that this Writ Petition may kindly be accepted and allowed and:-

a) by an appropriate writ, order or direction the respondent may kindly be directed to conduct a fresh computer speed test for the petitioner to the post of Stenographer (Hindi) and consider the candidature of petitioner for further process in the said recruitment for posts of Stenographer for District Courts and DLSAs 2023;

b) Any other order or direction, which this Hon’ble Court deemed just and proper be passed in favour of the petitioner.

c) Costs of this petition may kindly be allowed to the petitioner;”

2. Brief facts of the case, as placed before this Court by the learned counsel for the petitioner, are that the respondent published an advertisement on 28.07.2023 initiating recruitment process, under the Rajasthan District Courts Ministerial Establishment Rules, 1986 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as ‘Rules of 1986’), for appointment on the post of Stenographer(s) in the District Courts and District Legal Services Authorities (Taluka Legal Services Committees & Permanent Lok Adalats), as mentioned in the said advertisement. The said recruitment as per the advertisement was to be conducted through Combined Competitive Examination, 2023.

2.1. The Scheme of Examination, as outlined in the aforesaid advertisement, required candidates to successfully pass the subject group corresponding to the post applied for (i.e., the English/Hindi Shorthand Test) and the Computer Test (Speed & Efficiency Test). The petitioner, claiming himself to be fully qualified in all respects, duly applied for the post of Stenographer (Hindi) in pursuance of the said recruitment process.

2.2. In accordance with the aforementioned advertisement, admission cards were issued to the candidates, including the petitioner, for the respective posts they had applied for. The petitioner was assigned Roll No. 26371 for the post of Stenographer (Hindi), with the designated Examination Centre being Arya College of Engineering and IT (IT Block), Jaipur.

2.3. On 11.10.2023, when the petitioner participated in the Computer Test (Speed Test) at the designated examination center, the computer assigned to him malfunctioned and ceased to respond with 7 minutes of time remaining in the test; whereupon, as per the petitioner, he promptly brought the same to the knowledge of the invigilator, who attempted to resolve the issue by restarting the computer and replacing the keyboard. Despite such efforts, the computer remained non-functional, prompting the petitioner to be assigned a different system in order to complete the test.

2.4. Upon resuming his speed test on the newly allocated system, the petitioner had only 2 minutes remaining. However, the 5 minutes of the precious time lost during the process of assigning the new system, was not additionally granted to the petitioner.

2.5. The petitioner raised a concern regarding the time lost as a result of a system malfunction, and was subsequently assured that a fresh speed test would be conducted. In this regard, an application was duly submitted to the Examination Center In-Charge, requesting that appropriate action be taken to address the matter.

2.6. Upon receiving no response from the respondent thereafter, the petitioner submitted a formal representation dated 14.10.2023. However, till date, no reply has been provided by the respondent to redress the grievance of the petitio