254 (7 cases)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH

1. LPA-3171-2025 (O&M)

Date of Decision: 23^rd April, 2026 HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

LAKHAN SINGH AND OTHERS …....Respondent(s)

2. LPA-114-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

NAVENDER .....Respondent(s)

3. LPA-32-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

BHUSHAN AND OTHERS .....Respondent(s)

4. LPA-126-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

AMAN DALAL AND OTHERS .....Respondent(s)

5. LPA-127-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

MUSKAN AND OTHERS .....Respondent(s)

6. LPA-128-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

HARSHVARDHAN SINGH MALIK AND OTHERS .....Respondent(s)

7. LPA-205-2026 (O&M)

HARYANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION .…...Appellant(s)

V/s.

ANANT HOODA AND OTHERS .....Respondent(s)

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHWANI KUMAR MISHRA HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ROHIT KAPOOR Present Mr. Pravindra Singh Chauhan, Advocate General, Haryana assisted by Mr. Sanjeev Kaushik, Addl. A.G., Haryana, Mr. Divyanshu Kaushik, Advocate, Mr. Abhinav Kaushik, Advocate and Ms. Manreet Kaur, Advocate for the State of Haryana.

Mr. Kanwal Goyal, Advocate, Ms. Sheena Dahiya, Advocate and Mr. Komal Klana, Advocate, for the appellant(s)-HPSC.

Mr. Ajit Singh Lamba, Advocate, Mr. Vivek Sheoran, Advocate, Ms. Annie, Advocate, and Mr. Raktabh, Advocate for the respondent(s) in LPA-3171-2025.

Ms. Aditi Sharma, Advocate for the respondent(s) in LPA-205-2026. Mr. Rohit Kumar Arora, Advocate, and Ms. Yashika Walia, Advocate for the respondent(s) in LPA-127-2026.

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ASHWANI KUMAR MISHRA, J. (Oral)

1. This order shall dispose of seven connected LPAs as the issue involved in these is identical.

2. These Appeals are by the Haryana Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”), challenging the judgment of the learned Single Bench whereby the process of recruitment for the post of Assistant District Attorney has been interfered with, primarily on the ground that the process of recruitment is wholly irrational.

3. The recruitment has been initiated pursuant to advertisement No. 18 of 2025 dated 08.08.2025, consisting of three phases/tiers. The scheme/pattern of examination contains the Screening Test, followed by the Subject Knowledge Test, and the Interview thereafter. The scheme of examination is contained in a separate notification issued on the same day as the advertisement. The same is reproduced hereinafter:-

“ANNOUNCEMENT It is hereby announced for the information of the candidates who have applied for the posts of Assistant District Attorney (Group-B) in Prosecution Department, Haryana in response to Advertisement No.

18/2025 that the Scheme/Pattern of Exam is as under:-

Scheme/Pattern of Exam:

1. Screening Test a) Total MCQs: 100 b) Total Marks: 100 c) Time duration of the exam: 02 hours d) All questions carry equal marks.

e) Each question will have five options. The fifth option will be meant for a situation where a candidate intends to leave the question un-

attempted.

f) One-fourth mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.

g) In case, a candidate neither attempts a question nor darkens the fifth option/bubble, then One- fourth mark will be deducted for each such question.

h) The question paper will be in English and Hindi.

i) A candidate will have to secure a minimum of 25%

marks to clear the screening test.

j) Candidates four times the number of advertised posts along with bracketed candidates, if any, will he called for the Subject Knowledge Test, provided that they have secured the minimum cutoff marks of 25%.

k) The marks obtained by the candidates in the screening test will not be counted for final selection because it is meant only for short-listing of category-wise candidates.

Topics / Syllabus of Screening Test:-

General Science Current Events of National and International Importance History of India Indian and World Geography Indian C