IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Serial No. 240+241 Decided on:04.12.2025

1) CWP-33277-2025 Pinky Devi and others . . . Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and others . . . Respondents AND

2) CWP-33347-2025 Deepak and others . . . Petitioners Versus State of Haryana and others . . . Respondents AND

3) CWP-35114-2025 Ankit Sharma . . . Petitioner Versus Haryana Public Service Commission . . . Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE TRIBHUVAN DAHIYA Present: Mr. R. S. Dhull, Advocate and Mr. Navnit Sharma, Advocate for the petitioners in CWP-33347-2025.

Mr. Sarthak Gupta, Advocate and Mr. Saurabh Gupta, Advocate for the petitioners in CWP-33277-2025.

Mr. Abhishek Sindhwani, Advocate for the petitioner in CWP-35114-2025.

Mr. Parveen Mehta, Additional Advocate General, Haryana.

Mr. Kanwal Goyal, Advocate and Ms. Sheena Dahiya, Advocate for the respondent/Commission.

TRIBHUVAN DAHIYA, J.(ORAL)

The petitions are being decided together as common questions of law on similar facts arise for consideration therein.

2. The facts have been noticed from CWP’33277’2025, which has been filed (cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:7)(cid:6)seeking a writ of (cid:9)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:3)(cid:1)(cid:10)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:1)(cid:6)quashing the screening test for the post of Assistant Professor Mathematics in response to advertisement 56/2024 conducted on 28.09.2025, the final master answer key for the test dated 14.10.2025, and also the result dated 14.10.2025. Further, a writ of (cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:2)(cid:12)(cid:7)(cid:11)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:6) has been sought directing the respondents to re’conduct the screening test in a fair and transparent manner.

3. The petitioners are applicants for the post in question, and have appeared for the screening test conducted on 28.09.2025. Thereafter, a model answer key was uploaded on the Commission’s website on 29.09.2025, inviting objections from the candidates. The objections received were sent to the subject experts, and following their advice the impugned final answer key along with test result was uploaded on 14.10.2025.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the process of conducting the screening test was vitiated as there were numerous errors in the answer key which led to deletion of thirteen questions. Besides, five questions, namely questions no.2, 5, 22, 35 and 77, were out of syllabus. Such Aman Dua a large number of errors calls for cancellation of the test itself. Particularly when the Commission itself has filed an affidavit, dated 06.01.2023, Annexure P’10, before this Court in CWP’5119’2018 titled (cid:15)(cid:1)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:1)(cid:8)(cid:6)(cid:18)(cid:17)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:7)(cid:19)(cid:6)v(cid:20)(cid:6) (cid:21)(cid:3)(cid:7)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:6)(cid:10)(cid:22)(cid:6)(cid:23)(cid:7)(cid:5)(cid:24)(cid:7)(cid:2)(cid:7)(cid:6)(cid:7)(cid:2)(cid:12)(cid:6)(cid:10)(cid:3)(cid:17)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:14) that whenever more than fourteen questions of a test are required to be deleted, it will re’conduct the test. In the instant case, thirteen questions have already been deleted and at least five more are out of syllabus, which would require their deletion. Therefore, the threshold of fourteen deleted questions for conducting a re’test has been reached.

4.1. (cid:21)(cid:4)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:2)(cid:12)(cid:8)(cid:24), it has been argued that questions 37 and 45 have four statements each, and while answering the candidates are required to choose the correct statement(s). Question 45 reads as under:

45 Consider the following Statements:

1. If all the zeroes of a polynomial lie in a half plane, then zeroes of derivative also lie in the same half plane.

2. If all zeroes of a polynomial lie in the unit circle ∈

then zeroes of derivative lie in closed unit disk {z C:| z|

≤ 1}.

3. If all zeroes of a polynomial are reals then zeroes of derivative are also reals.

4. If all zeroes of a polynomial are purely imaginary then zeroes of derivation a