IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.2445 OF 2025 Ajay Shankar Rathod NKDAA IKIRLI A TAD ASE DsNKDD21+ i 01 A i Aa g 0 I g K 2: t I n 5 R 2 i e L 5 I t 3 e 2 A: T a A . d 0 0: D l A 3 S 2 by E 2. y 28 Occ. Student, Age: 21 years R/o Dindala Post: Sukji Jahagir Tal.:

Umarkkhed Dist/: Yavatmal 44526 ….Petitioner versus

1. Zilla Parishad, Satara Near LIC Office Building Powai Naka, Satara 415001

2. The Chief Executive Officer Zilla Parishad, Satara Near LIC Office Building Powai Naka, Satara 415001

3. The Dy. Executive Officer Zilla Parishad, Satara Near LIC Office Building Powai Naka, Satara 415001

4. The Collector, Satara Near LIC Office Building Powai Naka, Satara 415001

5. Institute of banking Personnel Selection IBPS House, 90 feet, D.P.

Road, Thakur Complex, Off.

Western Express Highway Kandivali (E), Mumbai 400101 ….Respondents Mr. Atharva Dandekar a/w Mr. Onkar Wable a/w Mr. Prasad Nagargoje a/w Mr. Hitendra V. Parab for the Petitioner.

Mr. P. P. Kakade Add. G. P a/w Ms. P. N. Diwan, AGP for the State.

Mr. Pankaj Deokar for the Respondent No.1 to 3.

CORAM : RAVINDRA V. GHUGE &

ASHWIN D. BHOBE, JJ.

DATE : 25th FEBRUARY, 2025 ORAL ORDER (PER RAVINDRA V. GHUGE, J)

1. A short issue is raised for our consideration, as under:-

Whether a Candidate/Student can be said to have indulged in unfair examination practices or adopted unfair means in the examination, though there is no evidence of malpractice or allegation against him.

2. The facts emerging from this petition are quite interested. Only on the basis of the CCTV footage, which indicates that he did not use a rough sheet for calculation while answering the question paper, it is alleged that the Petitioner may have played some trick.

3. The Petitioner had responded to an advertisement dated 5^th August, 2023 bearing Advertisement No.1 of 2023, vide which, 21 vacancies were declared, including the post of ‘Junior Assistant’ in direct service under group ‘C’. Two posts were reserved for candidates belonging to the VJ-A category. One post was reserved for a female candidate.

4. The examination was held 19^th December, 2023. The Petitioner appeared for the said exam at the designated examination centre namely, Swami Vivekanand Institute of Polytechnics. The examination was conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), which is a central recruitment agency functioning under the Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The examination was conducted online through a remote proctored on the designated examination centre. The examination had a duration of two hours and each student was expected to answer 100 questions carrying two marks per question (200 marks).

5. On 21^st February, 2024 Respondent No.1 published the list of qualified candidates in the order of merit for the post of ‘Junior Assistant’, on its official website. The Petitioner secured 170 marks out of 200 and was placed at Sr. No.21 in the merit list. In all

4930 candidates have appeared for the said examination.

6. On 20^th June 2024, Respondent No.2 declared the interim selection and the provisional list for the post of ‘Junior Assistant’. The Petitioner was selected under the VJ-A category. Two more candidates namely, Satish Harisingh Kakarwal and Lahu Laxman Deokar, were placed in the waiting list under the same category. The Petitioner was called for document verification and all his documents were duly verified.

7. The Respondent No.2 prepared and published a final selection list dated 23^rd August, 2024 on its official website. However, though the Petitioner completed the document verification process, the final selection list for VJ-A (General) category was kept reserved. The Petitioner submitted representations dated 2^nd September, 2024 and 23^rd September, 2024 to Respondent No.2, for seeking redressal. However, neither the representations have been dealt with, nor any response or clarification has been received from the concerned Respondent.

8. The reason for the